By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Football Association (SAFA) have announced the launch of the SAFA Academy, which has been named after the late Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker.
Barker passed away in June after a long battle with illness but he will now be honoured with the SAFA Academy being launched in his name.
SAFA Technical Director Walter Steenbok said, “the Safa Academy will be renamed Safa/Clive Barker Academy, which is going to deliver specialised courses in youth, conditioning, scouting, performance and data analysis and other emerging courses in modern football.”
“It will fall under Safa Education, which includes coach education and the Safa Academy.
“Coach education offers CAF-accredited courses from CAF D to CAF Pro, including goalkeeping. The Safa Academy deals with specialised courses.”
Steenbok also revealed that SAFA will finally host CAF A and CAF B Licence courses again.
In a coaching career that spanned 42 years, Barker mentored teams including AmaZulu, Manning Rangers, Durban City, Durban Bush Bucks, Santos Cape Town, Wits and, as his last assignment, Maritzburg United, which came to an end in 2016.
He defied apartheid regulations in the 1970s to coach teams in South Africa’s black townships and winning the league three times in the top flight.
Barker also spearheaded the country’s first appearance at the FIFA World Cup in France in 1998.