Speculation about Pitso Mosimane returning to the national team setup
has been circulating in recent months, particularly regarding a possible
role with Bafana Bafana after the next FIFA World Cup cycle.
However, the highly respected tactician’s visit to the South African
Football Association headquarters this week had nothing to do with coaching
positions or future appointments.
Instead, Mosimane returned to SAFA House on Thursday to present a Youth
Football Manual he has been researching and developing for several years.
During the visit, he met with SAFA president Danny Jordaan, CEO Lydia
Monyepao, technical director Molefi Ntseki, and Banyana Banyana head coach
Desiree Ellis.
Mosimane explained that the document focuses on long-term player
development, particularly at grassroots level, and is designed to guide
coaches working with young players between the ages of seven and 18.
“It is a youth manual and it’s not a manual for professional football
coaches,” Mosimane clarified. “We are not teaching coaches who are at the
Premier Soccer League how to coach. No, this is for youth level. This is
directed to a coach, a teacher, a coach in Soweto or in any township who is
coaching football, a coach who’s going to schools and coaching the pupils.”
According to Mosimane, the manual aims to address the fundamentals of youth
development, offering structured guidance to grassroots coaches across the
country.
“This manual is for grassroots. It will give guidance and principles on how
to coach a seven-year-old differently to a nine-year-old. What are you doing
in that space? What principles are you going to put for a 13-year-old
compared to a seven-year-old?”
The document also outlines practical aspects of youth training, including
the structure of training sessions, pitch dimensions, and appropriate ball
sizes for different age groups.
“And we’re discussing issues of the size of the pitch, the structure of a
training session, the size of the ball,” Mosimane added.
