13 November 2018 –The South African Football Association’s Netcare First Aid Training Programme kicked off today in Cape Town on Monday, 12 November.

The purpose of the course is to help upskill members of the communities from different LFAs with relevant skills to deal with medical related matters when it comes to football.

The course will run until Sunday, 18 November.

Thabo Maphoso, who serves as a medical instructor in this course, said this was a great initiative from the Association, adding that this will go on to benefit the country’s football in the long run.

“The purpose of this whole course is to create well equipped first aiders who will know how to handle different medical related matters in our LFAs throughout the country,” Maphoso said.

“The truth is there is more to the medical side of football other than teams taking bottles of water and ice packs as the only source when it comes with dealing with injuries on the pitch. There is the prevention and monitoring of injuries or cardiac arrest related matters that comes in to play as well.

“Clubs and coaches working with players on the ground level need to be made aware of how to deal with such issues when they happen.”

Maphoso added that the Association needs to have more of these courses, as they will help to deal with many misconceptions which are out there, when it comes to sports medicine related matters.

“One of the many misconceptions which are out there is: many athletes competing at amateur level think that they are not prone to cardiac arrests because, well, they are sportsmen,” Maphoso said.

“Well, the truth is, that is false.  Cardiac arrests can occur as a result of athletes overworking the heart muscle by what they consume, or just overdoing it in training. That is why ECG (Electrocardiogram) tests are crucial for any athlete, pro or amateur”