SAFA Coaching Courses Explained: D, C, B and A

SAFA's coaching qualifications follow the Confederation of African Football's structure. There are four principal levels and they run in a fixed order — D, then C, then B, then A. Each one is a prerequisite for the next.

Here is what each covers.

SAFA D Licence — the entry point

The D Licence is the introductory coaching qualification. It assumes no prior badge and focuses on grassroots and youth football: player development, training methodology, session organisation and the coaching principles that everything above it builds on.

Published information describes it as delivered in two phases, either across roughly five consecutive days or over weekends, totalling in the region of eighty hours of contact time with long daily schedules. It is a serious time commitment, not a weekend certificate.

If you are coaching a school side, a club's junior section, or a community team and have no formal qualification, this is your course.

CAF C Diploma — youth and amateur football

The C Diploma develops the foundational skills for coaching youth and amateur teams. Entry requires completion of the D Licence and active involvement in coaching — the assessment assumes you have a team to work with.

SAFA Ekurhuleni scheduled a CAF C Diploma course from 20 to 27 June 2026, alongside two D Licence courses in the following fortnight, which gives a sense of the regional cadence.

CAF B — the assistant's licence

B is where the qualification starts to carry professional weight. Under the coaching standards introduced from the 2024/25 season, an assistant coach in the PSL must hold a CAF B licence.

SAFA's 2026 CAF B course was published in three phases: 17–24 August, 5–12 October, and 9–16 November. Note the shape of that — it is not a single block. Higher licences are delivered across months, with work in between, and you need to be able to commit to all of it.

CAF A — the head coach's licence

From 2024/25, a head coach in the PSL must hold a CAF A licence. That single rule is what has driven the recent demand: a generation of professional coaches who had been working without the badge suddenly needed it.

South Africa's readmission to the CAF Coaching Convention is what made these courses available domestically again, and the return of the A licence to South Africa drew a well-publicised cohort of established PSL names.

And above that — the CAF Pro Licence

SAFA has been reported as preparing to roll out the first CAF Pro Licence in Sub-Saharan Africa. If that lands, it closes the top of the domestic pathway — the level above A, delivered locally rather than requiring a coach to go abroad.

The real constraint is not difficulty

It is places. Courses run to a regional calendar, cohorts are capped, and demand at B and A rose sharply once the professional-game standards took effect. The practical advice is unglamorous: get the level below done early, keep an active coaching attachment, and watch your regional association's announcements rather than waiting to hear informally.

Where Tribal Nation Sports fits

Tribal Nation Sports is a football education platform based in Cape Town. We do not issue SAFA, CAF or UEFA qualifications — those are issued by federations, and any claim otherwise should be treated with suspicion. What we run is the preparation and the continuing education around them: a free Foundation Certificate, masterclasses taught by working professionals, and specialist courses for the analysis and academy roles the badge pathway does not cover.

Start with the free Foundation Certificate — three modules, about ninety minutes, no cost.

Sources

Checked 16 August 2026. Coaching-course dates, prices and entry rules change — confirm with the issuing federation before you rely on them.

Key takeaways

→SAFA issues coaching licences using CAF's structure: D → C → B → A, strictly sequential.
→The D Licence is the entry qualification and assumes nothing before it.
→Courses run to a regional calendar with limited places — availability is the real constraint.
→SAFA has been preparing to run the first CAF Pro Licence in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Frequently asked.

Is SAFA D the same as 'Level 1'?

Coaches use the terms interchangeably and search for both, but the current SAFA naming follows the CAF structure — D, C, B, A. If you see 'Level 1' in older material or informal conversation, it generally refers to the introductory course now known as the D Licence.

Where are the courses held?

Through SAFA's regional structures. Ekurhuleni, for example, scheduled a CAF C Diploma and two D Licence courses in June and July 2026. Availability varies by region and by year — check with your regional association.