Will Telone stick with Luphahla?
By Raymond Jaravaza
The future of Division One championship winning coach Joel Luphahla at TelOne is not cast in stone amid revelations that he does not hold the requisite qualifications to lead a Premier Soccer League club as head coach.
TelOne clinched the Zifa Central Region ticket to play in the PSL next year ahead of foes Tongogara.
But for Luphahla and other lower league coaches, the profession is fast turning into a thankless job that tosses aside hard working individuals and proven achievers for so called qualified gaffers with the relevant papers but questionable track records.
Luphahla holds a B coaching badge.
But to sit on the TelOne technical team as head coach in the PSL next year, he needs an A coaching licence.
“When Joel landed the Border Strikers head coach job in early 2017 he was a holder of a B coaching licence and in the same year the Confederation of African Football temporarily suspended coaching courses for an extensive curriculum and content delivery review.
“We only lifted the ban on coaching courses in August 2018 and all member associations, including Zifa, then instructed their technical directors to introduce the newly formulated A, B and C courses.
“As things stand all the local coaches who want to upgrade their qualifications are still waiting for Zifa to organise coaching courses and I believe Joel is one of them,” said a member of the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca).
It took Luphahla just under a year to turn around the fortunes of TelOne and win the Division One championship.
In the event that he is barred from sitting on the TelOne coaches’ bench in the PSL, he will join former Bulawayo Chiefs head coach Thulani Sibanda who was “demoted” to a fitness trainer after guiding the team into top flight football.
Sibanda also holds a B coaching badge and Zifa regulations did not permit him to sit on the Bulawayo Chiefs bench as the head coach.
It remains to be seen if TelOne will beat the “system” by creating a position that will allow Luphahla to sit on the dugout next year.
Efforts to get hold of Luphahla since last week hit a brick as he did not answer his phone or respond to messages sent to him. B-Metro.
