Standardising coaching in East Africa: The need and role of EACCES

Evans Odago, coordinator of the East Africa Community Coach Education System (EACCES), speaks to sportanddev about the important role of the EACCES initiative, the gap it is filling, and what it means for East African coaches and football.

“The aim of EACCES is to enhance the standardisation, recognition and support of community level coaching education and development within East Africa," Evans explains. "The main initiative focuses on community support coaching agencies participating in the East Africa Cup - those coaches who are using sports to address underlying issues in their communities who focus on social development and cohesion."

The EACCES initiative has been established in response to a need for standardisation and support in the region. “It is evident that all agencies doing sports activities and training are very different and are at different levels in different contexts. Through EACCES we are making a way that coaching can be standardised," Evans says. "We can have our own framework on how to conduct and have the pathways on how the coaches are supposed to be trained, and set the level that they’re supposed to be following."

“For now we have the working group that comprises of members MYSA, CHRISC East Africa, and the Kicking Aids Out secretariat. Our target is mostly to work with organisations that are within the East Africa Cup, and to use it as a platform to showcase what is happening within the community and what EACCES has been addressing."

“The majority of the work we are doing now is mapping – to help organisations know their weaknesses and best practices, which also helps network members to relate to other organisations," explains Evans.

Ultimately, EACCES will provide a framework for accreditation of community coaches and will serve as a network for coaching organisations to learn from one another. Through EACCES, knowledge about coaching best practice can be shared. Communities will benefit from a quality standard of coaching, and coaches will benefit from increased support, training, and better job prospects following a recognised qualification.

Evans says, “It is a challenge to be best practice, so it’s one way of helping each other by creating this platform through EACCES."