Pitso Mosimane launches ‘landmark’ youth coaching manual to fix South Africa’s football ‘development challenge’

South Africa’s most decorated club coach, Pitso Mosimane, has unveiled a comprehensive youth coaching manual he hopes will transform the way the country develops its footballers – insisting the problem is not talent, but “a development challenge”.

The 61-year-old former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly boss, who has lifted 20 major trophies including three CAF Champions League titles, on Thursday formally launched The Youth Football Coaching Manual, a project his camp describes as “a landmark publication”.

Mosimane has been strongly linked with the Bafana Bafana head coach role as the South African Football Association weighs up the future of current boss Hugo Broos, whose contract expires at the end of this month.

Yet while speculation about a possible national team return continues, Mosimane has shifted his attention firmly to the grassroots, using his time away from club coaching to focus on the Pitso Mosimane Youth Football programme.

A bid to move focus from pros to the ‘foundations of the game’

According to the official launch statement, the manual is intended to redirect the national debate away from elite football and towards the structures that shape young players.

“Today, Mosimane officially launched The Youth Football Coaching Manual, a landmark publication that aims to shift the national conversation from professional football to the foundations of the game. The manual is a practical resource designed to strengthen coach education, improve player development, and encourage a more collaborative approach to developing the next generation of footballers,” reads the official press release.

The document, aimed primarily at coaches and football educators, “provides a practical framework for long-term player development, grounded in coaching principles and internationally recognised development models, while addressing the realities of African football”.

It sets out detailed guidance for building training programmes from grassroots to elite youth level, with an emphasis on progressive learning and continuity rather than short-term results.

‘Holistic’ blueprint for players, parents and communities

The publication promotes what Mosimane’s team calls a “holistic approach that develops confident, resilient and well-rounded young people”.

“The Manual further encourages coaches to prioritise age-appropriate, long-term development over short-term results; parents to become active partners in their children’s football journey; and communities, football federations, government and the private sector to work together to create environments where young players can grow technically, physically, mentally and socially,” the statement continues.

The framework calls for closer collaboration between schools, academies and local clubs, and urges stakeholders across the game to invest in pitches, safe facilities and qualified coaching for children at all levels.

Mosimane has already taken a practical step in that direction by acquiring the status and licence of East Rand Athletic FC in order to compete in the Gauteng Development League (GDL), a key youth competition in South Africa’s most populous province.

‘South African football doesn’t have a talent problem’

Mosimane, who has been without a club since leaving Iranian giants Esteghlal in January 2025, used the launch to underline his long-held view that South Africa consistently underperforms because of poor development structures, not a lack of gifted youngsters.

“South African football doesn’t have a talent problem. It has a development challenge. We have gifted young players in every community across this country. The question is whether we’re providing them with the coaching, support and environment they need to fulfil their potential,” he said.

He stressed that raising standards cannot be left to coaches alone.

“Creating the player of tomorrow is not the responsibility of coaches alone. If we want a stronger future for South African football, we must invest in the people and environments that shape young players from the very beginning.”

While the manual is rooted in South Africa’s context, Mosimane and his team believe its principles and models can be applied across the African continent, where similar structural problems often limit the progress of promising players.

As debate continues over whether Mosimane should be handed another shot at the Bafana Bafana job, his latest project signals a clear message: in his view, the long-term future of South African football will be decided not in national-team dugouts, but on the training fields where the youngest players first learn the game.