Parker credits Stuart Baxter for coaching inspiration

TS Galaxy coach Bernard Parker has revealed that a former Kaizer Chiefs mentor played a crucial role in helping him recognise his potential to be a “good coach.”

Having retired at the end of last season, Parker, who began his career in 2004 at Benoni Premier United, is now developing his coaching skills with the Rockets’ reserve team, assisted by his former teammate Vuyo Mere.

Parker shared that during Stuart Baxter’s second tenure at Kaizer Chiefs in 2021, Baxter encouraged him to consider coaching.

He highlighted Parker’s ability to adapt to various tactics, which he demonstrated during multiple coaching changes at the club over the past decade.

Parker on which ex-Chiefs coach told him he would make a good coach

“He [Stuart Baxter] is the first one who planted the idea in my mind that I would become a good coach because tactically I respond very well, tactically I always know what to do,” he said.

“He would always use me as an example, and he said to me, ‘You know Bernard, you should think about becoming a coach’.

“So, that seed was planted by coach Stuart Baxter. That’s where it started for me.

“I asked him [why], he said, ‘I know you’ve been at Chiefs for a long time, and we won trophies and went through the drought, but you managed to play under all coaches’.

“He said, ‘Imagine how many coaches they changed, but you played under all of them; that just shows that you will become a good coach because you understand the game. You are one of the guys that understand the game better’.”

Parker also mentioned that his influence on players like Donay Jansen, currently on loan at SuperSport, and Shandre Campbell of Club Brugge, helped him decide to pursue coaching.

“I then started helping in the communities, taking my team to the tournaments,” he explained.

“And then I started helping young players as well in terms of becoming professional.

“The likes of Donay Jansen, who was 14 at the time, and Shandre Campbell, who was also 14. I started then to realise I can become a good coach.

“Seeing how much I’ve influenced these boys and what they’ve become, it really kicked in that this is the route and the direction I’m going to take.”

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