"From Policy to Practice: Evaluating the Southern Province Teacher-Coach Training Intervention as a Response to Zambia's Football Development Crisis"

This study evaluates a large-scale football coach education intervention in Zambia's Southern Province, where 917 teachers were trained as Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) E Licence coaches to spearhead a district-wide school football league system across all 15 districts. The intervention responds to systemic failures identified in Mizinga's (2017) evaluation of Zambian Super League football: the absence of coherent football curricula, inadequate coach knowledge, and the collapse of school football as a talent identification pathway. This qualitative case study, informed by theory of change, realistic evaluation, and situated learning theory, examines the intervention's design, mechanisms, and intended outcomes against the backdrop of Zambia's football development challenges. Data are drawn from programme documents, training materials, and secondary literature. The intervention represents a significant departure from previous ad hoc approaches, embedding coach education within existing educational infrastructure. Training teachers as coaches addresses three critical gaps: (1) the lack of qualified grassroots coaches; (2) the absence of structured, continuous school football programmes; and (3) the disconnect between school football and elite player development pathways. However, the intervention faces challenges including teacher-coach motivation sustainability, resource constraints, and the need for alignment with a National Football Curriculum. This intervention offers a replicable model for grassroots football development in resource-constrained African contexts. Key success factors include multi-stakeholder collaboration (Ministry of Education, FAZ, and Our Pitch), integration of coaching qualifications with existing teacher professional development, and establishment of zoned league structures that ensure regular competition. This study contributes to the limited literature on teacher-coach training models in African football development, providing practical recommendations for scaling such interventions.