NFA on intensive youth development drive

A WELCOME turnaround is expected in local football after the Namibia Football Association (NFA) announced an intensive national youth development programme for both men and women’s football.

Speaking to The Namibian Sport recently, NFA Technical Director Seth Boois announced that after thorough deliberation and planning the controlling body finally reached a conclusion that development was key to success. Said Boois: “It (development) has worked for global and continental powerhouses like Brazil, Italy, Germany, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.In fact, these countries are still reaping the fruits of their development efforts.”We almost got it right with our own national team when we qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Burkina Faso in 1998.It was because of the youth development efforts of the NFA that we achieved that.”The former Orlando Tigers and Black Africa star pointed out that it was because of the grooming of youngsters such as Ricardo ‘Bucksy’ Mannetti, Johannes ‘Congo’ Hindjou, Mohammed ‘Slice’ Ouseb, Sylvester ‘Lolo’ Goraseb and Gerros ‘The Bomber’ Witbeen that Namibia reached the heights of 1998.”We all know about the financial and technical support former development coaches Rusten ‘Sukhile’ Mogane and Peter ‘Corporal’ Ueberjahn enjoyed during the tenure with the junior national teams.They even went to Germany for training camps.”In return, the Germans also used to sent their development teams for friendlies against our juniors.The national under-19 side also used to participate in international youth tournaments like the World Youth Cup in Finland and the Gothia Cup in Sweden.The exposure they gained was invaluable,” Boois noted.A former Brave Warrior himself, Boois pointed out that it was crucial for the controlling body to become serious about developing football at a younger age, rather than giving all the attention to the Brave Warriors alone.The NFA is looking at strategies on how to keep the under-13, -15, -17 and -20 teams in continuous training and competition, because Namibia has set its sights on trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.”The world football controlling body (Fifa) is looking at doing away with the current concept of making the Olympic Games legal for players under 23 because the younger players have been neglected for too long.”In fact, playing under-23 players in the Olympics has become too demanding to the players because most of them also form the core of their clubs.I think that the 2012 Olympics will already be contested by under-20 players,” he said.Boois said that selection will be done on national level and everything will be transparent.Players outside the formal school system will also be included if they are good enough to represent their country.He also promised that there will be continuous training camps and schools of excellence during the school holidays “because we want to maintain a systematic training process,” the former defender-cum-midfielder disclosed.He said that the emphasis during these training camps, of which the first one is planned for April, will be on the tactical, technical aspects of the game, with shooting, passing and ball control training the top priority.An under-13 tournament is also scheduled for the end of March in Windhoek.Boois pointed out that the development programme had actually started with the training and placing of development coaches around the country.”The NFA also wants to make the training of First and Second Division coaches a priority because they are the ones that assist the under-17 and under-20 players, who make up the bulk of their leagues, with the development of their game.”It is really a very ambitious drive that we are embarking upon.Hence, it will be really helpful of all the stakeholders of football bring their part to make this project a real success,” the development chief reiterated.Said Boois: “It (development) has worked for global and continental powerhouses like Brazil, Italy, Germany, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.In fact, these countries are still reaping the fruits of their development efforts.”We almost got it right with our own national team when we qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Burkina Faso in 1998.It was because of the youth development efforts of the NFA that we achieved that.”The former Orlando Tigers and Black Africa star pointed out that it was because of the grooming of youngsters such as Ricardo ‘Bucksy’ Mannetti, Johannes ‘Congo’ Hindjou, Mohammed ‘Slice’ Ouseb, Sylvester ‘Lolo’ Goraseb and Gerros ‘The Bomber’ Witbeen that Namibia reached the heights of 1998.”We all know about the financial and technical support former development coaches Rusten ‘Sukhile’ Mogane and Peter ‘Corporal’ Ueberjahn enjoyed during the tenure with the junior national teams.They even went to Germany for training camps.”In return, the Germans also used to sent their development teams for friendlies against our juniors.The national under-19 side also used to participate in international youth tournaments like the World Youth Cup in Finland and the Gothia Cup in Sweden.The exposure they gained was invaluable,” Boois noted.A former Brave Warrior himself, Boois pointed out that it was crucial for the controlling body to become serious about developing football at a younger age, rather than giving all the attention to the Brave Warriors alone.The NFA is looking at strategies on how to keep the under-13, -15, -17 and -20 teams in continuous training and competition, because Namibia has set its sights on trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.”The world football controlling body (Fifa) is looking at doing away with the current concept of making the Olympic Games legal for players under 23 because the younger players have been neglected for too long.”In fact, playing under-23 players in the Olympics has become too demanding to the players because most of them also form the core of their clubs.I think that the 2012 Olympics will already be contested by under-20 players,” he said.Boois said that selection will be done on national level and everything will be transparent.Players outside the formal school system will also be included if they are good enough to represent their country.He also promised that there will be continuous training camps and schools of excellence during the school holidays “because we want to maintain a systematic training process,” the former defender-cum-midfielder disclosed.He said that the emphasis during these training camps, of which the first one is planned for April, will be on the tactical, technical aspects of the game, with shooting, passing and ball control training the top priority.An under-13 tournament is also scheduled for the end of March in Windhoek.Boois pointed out that the development programme had actually started with the training and placing of development coaches around the country.”The NFA also wants to make the training of First and Second Division coaches a priority because they are the ones that assist the under-17 and under-20 players, who make up the bulk of their leagues, with the development of their game.”It is really a very ambitious drive that we are embarking upon.Hence, it will be really helpful of all the stakeholders of football bring their part to make this project a real success,” the development chief reiterated.