WANT TO BE A COACH? – FAZ

One of the key drivers of football development is coaching. Men and women on the touchline are often revered and vilified in equal measure. From time immemorial, football coaches have played a huge role in the development of the game. Coaches plan and take charge of training sessions with the objective of developing skills and motivating players for positive results.

Training coaches is a huge step towards the development of Zambian football, but in order for one to become a football coach, qualifications are needed at various levels. One can coach children, young and senior players at grassroots to professional level, such as national teams and in the Zambia Super League.

In continuing our series of unpacking information about the day-to-day running of the local game we have a quick chat with the FAZ Technical Directorate Lyson Zulu who gives us a rundown of the coaching radar.

Zulu says it is usually necessary to first pass the lower-level courses, gain experience as a coach and work your way up the coaching pyramid. The starting point of the coaching career is first to get a FAZ E qualification, which is the lowest qualification level. Advertisements are usually run on all FAZ media platforms when training of coaches is about to commence, either for FAZ E programs or CAF programs and the good news is that the training is not only restricted to Lusaka; technical teams usually conduct these trainings in various districts across the country in order to carter for everyone interested regardless of where they are.

FAZ E coaching courses last up to 4-5 days. For one to be eligible for FAZ E, they must be at least 18 years of age and able to read and write. The rest of the levels of qualifications are conducted by the Confederations of African Football (CAF). One cannot proceed to a higher coaching qualification without being trained on the qualification below it. The order of these qualifications starting with the lowest is as follows:

(i) FAZ E

(ii) CAF D

(iii) CAF C

(iv) CAF B

(v) CAF A

(vi) Pro

Levels of coaching qualifications will determine which football team category one can manage. They are as follows: Zambia Super League Football Clubs – CAF A, and CAF BNational League teams – CAF B and CAF C, Provincial League teams – CAF C, National football teams – CAF A, and ProFAZ E- Grassroots football teams. Do you have any more questions about becoming a coach? Do not hesitate to reach out to the Technical Director Lyson Zulu on lyson.zulu@faz.co.zm for more information.