In his latest column for iafrica.com, former Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru uncovers the problems facing coaching in South Africa and the lack of vision in youth development.

Enough has been said about the depressing state of local football. The new leadership of Safa presented a grim picture of the current sad realities that impede the development of the game in this country.

At Safa's special meeting held in Johannesburg on July 11, a report on behalf of the Safa Regions was presented by Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana, the Vice President of Safa.

The assessment of the Safa structures, presented in the report, "discovered a few difficulties". Among these there is a list of severe abnormalities such as: 'lack of leadership and capacity building, cultural barriers, lack of financial support, lack of commitment, shortage of playing fields and infrastructure, shortage of staff, poor registration' - the list continues.

The system is broken and the continuum from grassroots to international football is broken. The current status quo is simply not working and it is damaging South African football. It is a sombre and worrying situation which signals that "the future is not a bright one". There is not a single reference to the difficulties faced by Safa due to the lack of key technical structures and their much needed personnel.

Broken coaching mentality...

What it is puzzling though is that after so many years of decline in the sport, such reports still do not address the most important factors responsible for the wellbeing and progress of football in this country. Even if prompt, workable solutions can tomorrow lead to improved structures, finances, administrative competency and commitment, football will continue to deteriorate because its generator of performance and competitive values is broken. One key factor in the sphere of technical expertise that decides between successful football and desolate football, is coaching. And it is the content and standards of coaching that remains grossly neglected.

Over the years, the amalgamations of coaching influences, indiscriminately chosen from so many contrasting foreign concepts, are mainly responsible for the decline of local football. Blind ambitions aimed at reproducing replicas of alien football cultures of various overseas nations and clubs succeeded in denying the talent rich South African football distinction and rejoice.

The old and bankrupt English mentality is ravaging school football, SAB League, Vodacom League and many PSL clubs. The Dutch and German coaching rigidity, predictability and stereotyped mentality take care of the rest of the PSL clubs and youth national teams. With a bit of luck, Bafana Bafana benefits from pieces and bits of Brazilian philosophy which, incidentally, has some sympathy for the South African specificity. In this chaos of coaching doctrines and methodologies the victims are the players, their game and the fans. The shrinking of attendance figures at the PSL matches is a direct consequence of this technical felony.

Ignoring players' nature...

It is incredible that those who are empowered to look after the destiny of the game in this country never bother to find out what coaching concept will be best for South African players and local conditions. Neither have they realized that certain foreign schools of coaching are designed for a player?s profile that does not cater for the qualities, and limitations, of South African players. The fact that the development of most South African children is governed by foreign content of training translates into failure to maximize their potential. It is so because those imported methods are defined for a young player?s profile that has already been very early exposed to 3-5 years of regular Physical Education and Sport programs in schools. The European approach to youth development does not compensate the very young South African players for missing the benefits from the physical education programs.

Even more baffling is to ignore the fact that those highly recognized sources of ?advanced? coaching in the names of FA Coaching Qualification Programme, UEFA Licence, Dutch, German, French and many other coaching courses are far from being ?advanced? or even efficient when applied in different conditions and for different bio-social profile of players. Such coaching concepts inherit failure because they never been universally adaptable and successful. Therefore, they are wrong for South African football. In fact, they are either inadequate or incomplete within their own game context. Local coaches are rush to qualify in England, Germany, Holland, etc., but how many of those coaches would pass an examination on the bio-social profile of South African players, the components of geography, climate, and mentality that influence performance in South African football or the differences in the style of play between, for example, KZN and North West?

The copycat effect...

Niall Quinn, a reputable English technical analyst, concludes that the FA coaching courses and qualification are "at the root" of style predictability and inconsistency in professional football. ?The coaching copycat effect leads to all coaches are being taught the same incomplete curriculum, the same methods and often by the same people. They all influence each other - same drills, same tactics, same pasta. Is it any wonder that there are similarities when they put teams on a pitch?? Well known names in coaching like Sam Allardyce, Stuart Pearce, Paul Jewell and Alan Pardew agree.

Niall Quinn notes that the only difference in the way football is played is made by ?some clubs playing on adrenalin? or because a few clubs? budget give them access to the best players. Apparently, the quality of coaching produced by FA courses plays little role in satisfying fans' interest and expectations in the game.

Isn't the coaching copycat effect vividly exposed in the PSL? With the exception of few matches that are high on the adrenaline and very few where better players could still influence the quality of a match, the rest of the PSL clubs display the same playing pattern, usually plagued by 'imported' predictability and inconsistency. What's even more depressing is that this mentality has poisoned all levels of participation in competitions including the game of youth, amateurs and women.

It is bizarre that a policy, structure or person assigned to check on the relevancy of both imported coaching expertise and locally produced one, does not exist. No one could imagine, for example, Brazilian Federation inviting coaches from Germany, England or Russia to work in Brazil or run coaching courses for local coaches.

On page three Ted points to Safa exactly what needs to happen to improve the standard of youth development in SA...

Superior football...

The leadership of football in South Africa might be extremely pleased to know that on the basis of new scientific discoveries regarding biological and environmental specificity of world's various football societies, a genuine South African football can now be developed at a level that could exceed the current international standards.

What is needed is a truly South African school where coaching principles and methods reflect and respect players' characteristics and the game environment. The task is not easy, or short term, but it is the only correct way because is scientifically right to do so. It is imperative that the teachers of coaches preach the correct lessons. Recycling fallacious knowledge would result in perpetuating failure.

There is an interesting recent story of an aspirant African coach who questioned the relevancy of the CAF coaching course that he was attending. The course was conducted by a German instructor who throughout his lectures was strongly emphasizing the values of German coaching concept and the past successes of this particular philosophy. However, he found no answers when the African coach asked him to provide any evidence that the same German coaching concept had ever succeeded in Africa. Obviously, there is nothing like an ?impressive? track record of any European coaching mentality in Africa.

Without research and exploration on football's regional specificity it will be impossible to detect those valuable or exquisite traits that make local players not only different, but also competitively superior. Strong possibilities exist that through a South African approach to coaching the game will expose exceptional features. It is mainly, the diversity and efficiency of ball skills, fluency, peace, creativity and disguise in the application of tactics and new levels of mobility and sustained work rate. When the training and coaching regime respects the bio-social make up of players then synergistically the elements of game?s psychology - determination, lasting commitment, concentration and the emotion control function would support performance, optimally.

With urgency and commitment the challenge of improving the qualification and standards of coaching should be resolved ahead of other problems identified in the administration of football in the country. It is the only realistic way out of decline and the performance crisis.

What do you think of Ted's analysis of coaching in South Africa? Has he hit the nail in as far as you development is concerned? Leave your comment below!