DURBAN: AMATEUR football coach Trevino Naidoo dreams of emulating the likes of former Bafana Bafana mentors Gordon Igesund and Pitso Mosimane.
The 26-year-old recently completed a Scottish C licence at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria after an intense three-week programme.
The recognised qualification is a 30-hour course designed for coaches working with youth and adult players.
In addition, Naidoo, who is currently coaching Chatsworth-based second division outfit Bayview United, also completed a Safa D licence.
“The course was hosted by facilitators from the Scottish Football Association and was broken into two sets,” Naidoo said.
“We covered the basics of the game and worked on training sets, drills and preparing specialist training for the individual player.”
The second set saw Naidoo working towards attaining the full C licence.
“That entailed a lot of team formations and required practical outdoor work on a daily basis,” Naidoo explained.
The former Premier League footballer – Naidoo played for Bayview – began coaching within the club’s junior structures.
He said: “I love working with juniors. I worked with them for five years and this allows you to experiment, as well as help them develop as players and as individuals.
“To me, these are the most crucial years in a football player’s career.
“Juniors allow you to think out of the box with their creativity. It’s exciting.”
The ultimate goal is to coach in Europe, but Naidoo understands he must first put in the hard yards in South Africa.
“The plans are to continue to get my B licence, then move on to getting my Uefa badges,” he added.
“Right now I have to put in lots of work here and gain recognition.”