The CAF African Football Schools Championship (ASFC), an innovative youth football competition has been a wonderful asset to many young and aspiring football coaches and as the initiative is currently in its second season after the first pilot edition was successfully implemented. Its advantages go beyond CAF's youth football talent discovery platform, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
The development of future African leaders and the investment of youth in Africa are at the core of the program, as envisioned by CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe. This has been effectively realized through the competition's extensive capacity building programs, which ran concurrently to each Zonal Union qualifier this season.
As a deliberate move to address the need for certified coaches at the grassroots level, CAF successfully implemented its CAF D License Coaching Course across all Zonal Union qualifiers in response to the dearth of qualified football coaches at the school level.
The program's innovative approach to youth development resulted in the formal training and qualification of 210 aspiring coaches to coach young football from the CAF African Schools Football Championship Zonal Union qualifications.
The emphasis on coach development is in addition to the extensive capacity-building initiatives, such as the CAF Safeguarding workshops and the Young Medical Officers, Young Referees, and Young Reporters programs, which were conducted concurrently with the competition.
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By Olaleye Oluwadamilola