If you are looking for a way to combine your love of travel and your knowledge and expertise in the game of football, there are few better ways to spend your gap year than to travel and spend some time volunteering to coach abroad.

The opportunity to travel to an exotic location and volunteer to coach abroad is an extremely rewarding experience. Your job will mostly be centred on the townships, working with local schools and groups who are as enthusiastic about football as anyone you have ever met! There is an emphasis on working alongside younger children during term times, but occasionally your volunteering will coincide with a holiday period and you will get to coach in different areas - giving those who may not otherwise have the chance access to the sport. While you are in South Africa, you will help teach the basic set up of football and organise matches and below is a brief overview of what is expected.

Teaching the set up of football

The first thing you may find yourself needing to explain when you begin to coach abroad are the basic rules of the game of football! Firstly, the pitch itself is 100-110 metres long and 64-75 metres wide with a netted goal at each end; but many of the local level games that you will be organising in South Africa will be played as small sided games, in order to make it a bit faster and more exciting for those involved as well as the spectators. Put simply, there are two teams of eleven players, who compete to kick the ball down the pitch and into the opposing team's goal. A goalkeeper protects each goal; they are the only team member who can touch the ball with his/her hands and can only do so within the penalty area marked out on the pitch. Though the rules of the game only specify that a team has a goalkeeper, over time several positions have become accepted. These specialised positions can broadly be divided into three categories: defenders, strikers and forwards, whose main task it is to score goals. Once your young charges have these basic premises clear it's time to get started with the fun stuff.

Organising matches

One of the best parts of becoming a football coach abroad in South Africa is the chance to organise games and watch players learn and grow. Each standard match consists of two forty-five minute periods with a break in the middle, but this can be adjusted to suit your situation and the needs of your players. When you are organising the games, you will also be helping to give the teams and players guidance on the best moves, how to score goals and protect their own goals. Another exciting aspect of your coaching role is to keep an eye out for those star players who might eventually be drafted into a league or onto an upper level team. Getting to be a real live talent scout of sorts is just one of the extra highlights of these wonderful volunteer opportunities in South Africa.