SAFA President Hopes FIFA Course Inspires Next Generation Of Goalkeepers

South African Football Association (SAFA) president Dr Danny Jordaan hopes the work that is being done at a Goalkeeper Coaching Course currently underway in the south of Johannesburg will inspire the next generation of goalkeepers.

World football governing body FIFA and SAFA are currently running the course at the SAFA Technical Centre in the south of Johannesburg with 25 coaches from around the country in attendance.

The SAFA president said the goalkeeping position is critical and he is happy that more attention is being paid to it.

“We need more coaches in this country,” Dr Jordaan said.

“We need our coaches to be the best on the continent and among the best in the world. If you look at the current position, Itumeleng Khune was the goalkeeper of Bafana Bafana for over 10 years. There was no competition. Now [incumbent] Ronwen Williams has been there for how many years?

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“Where are the other [goalkeepers] that can compete for that place? So it is very important that these coaches are here at Fun Valley. We have Wayne Sandilands here, we have Moeneeb Josephs here, we have Itumeleng Khune here, Lucky Shiburi is here, Shuaib Walters is here, Ronwen Fernandez is here, and many others. These are players who played in Bafana Bafana and they are now goalkeeper coaches, and this is what we want.

“We want them to inspire and assist the next generation of goalkeepers. The problem we have is that in the 16 PSL clubs, there are only about six South African goalkeepers and out of this number only about three play regularly, and this is an issue we have to address because it is such a critical position in any team. For the national teams, we need to focus on this key area of goalkeeper coach, training and development.”

Dr Jordaan said women coaches are also a key focus area in the quest to produce more world class mentor in the country.

“Of course they are getting an opportunity in the Hollywoodbets Super League, and the league has already produced many coaches and their teams are doing well. They have not won the league yet, but their time will come as their teams become more and more competitive.

“Also in the Hollywoodbets, there are the technical officials, the referees and match commissioners …… we had another session here [at Fun Valley] for match officials and we had 65 women who trained as referees, match commissioners, referees instructors and they are doing duty in the Hollywoodbets Super League. You will see the number of women that are now handling Hollywoodbets matches, and that will help us to build a better Banyana Banyana.”

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SAFA’s manager for coach education, Frans Mogashoa, said the 25 participants that are currently at Fun Valley are divided into four categories and these are:
1) PSL Active
2) National First Division Active
3) National Team Coach
4) Coach educator or Instructor

FIFA instructor Alejandro Heredia is running the course between 6-10 June 2022.

The 25 participants of the course are renowned goalkeepers who are legends in their own right and are currently active as coaches at national team and club structures.

They are Lucky Shiburi, Delisle Mbatha, Cameron Cox, Adolph Mabotja, Monde Hlatshwayo, Dominic Ramokgopa, Tshepo Makgata, David Ribeiro, Tyron Damonds, Thembalethu Moses, Rory Minaar, Itumeleng Khune, Aubrey Mothibe, Wendell Robinson, Moeneeb Josephs, Thabang Stemmer, Pernell McKop, Sean Lowu, Rowen Fernandes, Shuaib Walters, Musa Langa, Sipho Zimba, Marcus Mashil and Greg Etafia.