CAF Gives Course in Egypt for Women Coaches Across Africa

Years ago, Faiza Haider made history as Egypt's first Premier League-certified coach and went on to create breakthrough teams, such as the team that won the first Special Olympics Female Unified Football cup for the region in 2017. Soon, she will be joined by many other African women looking to kick through the same glass ceiling.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has put together a training course in Egypt for women's coaches across Africa. The course - which is hosted by three instructors, attended by 20 women's coaches, and runs for five days - is the first of its kind to be set up by the CAF Women Football Development Department.

"The course is a very high-level course. In fact, it is the highest level of course for women in Africa. It is for elite coaches," said legendary Nigerian goalkeeper-turned-coach Ann Chiejine to Goal. "CAF expect that everyone that passes out of this course to be very relevant to their national associations and not just be rendered redundant but to promote women football in their country."

One of the three instructors, Fran Hilton-Smith from South Africa, praised CAF for the programme. In a statement to Goal, she said, "It's very big for CAF and women’s football to be training women Instructors to become instructors of instructors! They will travel around Africa developing more coaches and Instructors."

The course includes lessons on the theory of refereeing, fitness checks and medical first-aid, as well as practical exercises on the field. The course is to end on November 7th.