Thabo Senong relishing his new role as FIFA TDS talent coach under Arsene Wenger

Senong has recently been roped in as the new TDS talent coach and has been assigned to work with the Malawian football association.

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The TDS is a programme which is the brainchild of Wenger, aimed to increase the global competitiveness in men’s and women’s national team football and supporting FIFA member associations at youth level.

Senong has more on how this opportunity landed on his lap.

''It all goes down to the type of coaches they are looking for, they are always looking for former national team coaches, heads of academies, coaches who are knowledgeable and also committed to youth football. 

I was impressed with the project and I applied for the project even though it was a long process. Now that I am a part of the project, and looking forward to serve in the project to help federations to reach their targets as far as player education, player development is concerned,'' said Senong.

This move did not come as a surprise for Senong, having qualified and participated with the South African national U20 team in the 2017 and 2019 FIFA U20 World Cups respectively. The TDS programme is now in its second year and Senong is honoured to be working with a globally respected football personality like Wenger.

 ''It is a humbling experience, he is so hands-on in the project. He mentors every talent coach full time, and we discuss challenges, we discuss ideas that can take the game forward, we discuss the future of the game. We look into ways of making sure that we don't lose talent, we also discuss competitions. This is to make sure that there's global balance as far as international competitions are concerned,'' added Senong.

To prepare for the deployment to Malawi, Senong has been attending a series of workshops at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

He will be leaving for Malawi later this month and will be based at the FIFA technical centre where he will be working with a group of talented U15 boys and girls from around the country.

This project excites Senong.

 ''Excited to be there, they are a very interesting country, humble and also hard working with lots of talent. I am looking forward because you could see they have natural talent in their disposal, maybe the naturing has always been a challenge so that is why it was very key to set up an academy, a centre of excellence - so that we keep the talent together - we give them the needed training, the needed coaching, the needed exposure, so that they can reach their ultimate potential as footballers,'' he expressed.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has been part of the FIFA TDS since inception, they started the current U17 national team from the U15 level and have played more than six international matches now against top African and South American opposition.

Senong, who is also the Engen Knockout Challenge ambassador, recently followed the TDS tournament in Côte D’Ivoire where Amajimbos participated against the likes of Algeria, Morocco and Tanzania.