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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
LOCAL football coaches together with their counterparts in the Cosafa region are set to benefit from the regional body’s partnership with La Liga Santander as a number of workshops have been lined up for them.

The specialist masterclass workshops for professional coaches will provide expert knowledge from some of the leading tactical minds from Spain.

It is the second year in succession that tacticians from around Southern Africa will be able to tap into the expertise of coaches from one of global football’s leading nations in a series of online sessions, which will assist in broadening their knowledge base in the latest trends in the game.

Zimbabwe were represented by Triangle coach Taurai Mangwiro, Mighty Warriors mentor Sithethelelwe Sibanda, Irene Mwanza, Dynamos’ Tonderai Ndiraya together with Zifa technical director Wilson Mutekede in the previous event last year.

There will also be sessions for grassroots coaches around the Cosafa Zone to assist them in their journey and growth in football.

Some of the professional coaches attending this year’s course include Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis, Bafana Bafana assistant coach Helman Mkhalele, Swallows FC tactician Dylan Kerr, and the Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies duo of Jerry Tshabalala and Agnes Nkosi.

The coaches leading the sessions include Saúl Vázquez, La Liga’s senior specialist in football programmes development, RCD Espanyol football director Francisco Rufete, La Liga’s football projects coordinator Carlos Casal and CD Alavés deputy academy director Francisco Pérez.

Topics that will be covered and discussed include building a task progression for a game model, individual player evaluation processes, data analysis applied to football and the training process in a professional academy.

“We are once again delighted that our partners La Liga have put together such an impressive array of experts and topics for our coaches in Southern Africa.

The inaugural workshops proved such a great success last year and I am sure those who attend in 2022 will benefit equally from the line-up of presenters this year,” Cosafa general secretary Sue Destombes said.

Marcos Pelegrin, La Liga Southern Africa managing director, says the workshops are part of the organisation’s objectives to upskill coaches in the region.

“As part of our continued strategy in Southern Africa, La Liga, with Cosafa aims to increase tools and resources that players, coaches and administrators can have access to in order to diversify the views and ways of applying football strategies and tactics to grow the world view that already exists within the continent,” Pelegrin said.

– @innocentskizoe