Tanzania needs a coach who thinks beyond Stars` training

Early this week I came across a piece of information which I really would like to share with my esteemed readers. While browsing the net, I came across an impressive headline about a British soccer coach who is interested to come to Tanzania and make his contributions in developing both domestic soccer and players.

What impressed me most about this Briton who goes by the name of Stewart Hall is not his nationality but his knowledge about Tanzania’s soccer and his mission statement.

The mission statement which is in the well detailed eight page long document titled ‘Team Tanzania Football Development Document’ , says; “Our purpose is to lead and serve the whole football family in Tanzania to achieve success and integrity for the nation and the game through confident leadership and a clear vision. We will seek to establish a winning mentality by implementing a national coaching philosophy that will unite officials, coaches, and players by education and indoctrination into the ideology of “TEAM TANZANIA.”

In what he calls the ‘Statement of fact’; he points out that “To develop better players, we must first identify, train and encourage exceptional coaches who have the will and the knowledge to skillfully teach the skilful game to produce skilful players’.

What impressed me most is the Coach Education Programme which aims at designing and implementing the new raft of coaches courses – deliver the coaching philosophy from Course 1: Entry level certificate, certified by T.F.F whose target groups are Youth Leaders, Teachers, Community Workers and Ex players. In this category, the proposed syllabus will be sympathetic to young players aged 7-11 years.

He further plans to have Course 2; Certified by the England Football Association (FA) whose target groups will be Teachers, Ex Players and Existing established coaches of the various soccer clubs in the country.

This syllabus which is expected to be sympathetic to coaching young players ages 12-16 will be followed by Course 3 which will also be Certified by the FA and will also target Ex players and existing established coaches of the various soccer clubs in the country and the syllabus is expected to be sympathetic to coaching elite youth players and senior professionals.

Hall has previously visited Tanzania on two occasions. On the first occasion he was invited by the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) in 2007 and is said to have had an audience with the TFF President, Leodegar Tenga.

The second occasion was when he visited the country along with the famous players from England Premier sides, namely John Barnes, Les Ferdinand and Warren Barton. The trio played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam for charity games to promote football in Tanzania.

Hall seems to be very much interested with coaching in Tanzania because he saw a lot of talents during his two visits he believes that he can help in moulding not only the best outfit the country has ever had but also help in establishing a sound base for coach education.

Now that the TFF is looking for a more effective coach to replace the outgoing Brazilian Marcio Maximo, it will be a blessing to look for a coach who thinks outside the box; beyond just coaching the national senior team; Taifa Stars so to speak.

Despite the fact that no British coach has ever made a great history when training the national team, Hall’s basic knowledge to the country’s soccer standard can help him come out with answers of the long stagnated riddle of the stunted soccer growth. Need I say more?

Syllersaid Mziray is a lecturer-cum-soccer coach