Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
The military says “Train hard, fight easy.” Carpenters say “Measure twice, cut once.”
The quotes above, while sounding different and catering to different fields of application, all have the same underlying principle – the principle of reality-based preparation.
And it’s also so very true in football coaching.
True to this, AFC is working hard to produce top-quality coaches for the future of Asian football.
No dollars are spared in exposing aspirant coaches to the nuts and bolts of the coaching world.
Apart from the theories, the practical aspect of coaching is an element that must be incorporated also into coach training.
This includes Project Future Coaches, the AFC’s two-year grooming project for young Asians who have the potential to be the next generation of coaches.
The most recent practical-heavy coach training course by the AFC was conducted in Seoul, Korea Republic, for the youngest batch, Batch 2010, of Project Future Coaches, on 24-29 September 2011.
The budding coaches had a close look at the training sessions and real matches in the quarterfinal round of the AFC Champions League in Seoul between Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad and home side FC Seoul.
Just like student pilots who train in flight simulators, football student coaches also need to make their learning experience as real as possible.
In short, the training coaches need not only talk the talk, but more importantly walk the walk.
Absolute brilliance
The course’s instructor Alistair Edwards said the programme in Seoul had been absolutely brilliant in providing real-world coaching experience to the Project Future coaches.
“The Korean Football Association and Al Ittihad have been so accommodating and have made this exercise so rewarding for the coaches and myself,” said the Australian instructor.
“Not only have we had full access to Al Ittihad’s training sessions leading up to their AFC Champions League quarterfinal game, but we have been very fortunate to be able to view and analyse the training sessions and games of the Korea Republic U19 women’s team and the KFA U14 boys’ team.
“The U19 women’s team is in the final stages of their preparation for the U19 AFC Championship and to be able to witness this preparation has been a very valuable opportunity for the Project Future Coaches,” added Edwards.
The game is the teacher
For Edwards and all coaching instructors for that matter, having access to live games is an advantage aspirant coaches cannot leave home without in their preparation for serious coaching jobs in the future.
He said: “The course has acted as a refresher course and a way of preparing the coaches for the ‘B’ Certificate. We have concentrated on match analysis and this has been very successful because we have had access to top-level live games.
“The focus has been on the ‘Game Being The Teacher’ and the starting point for everything. From The Game we are able to identify problems and then design training sessions to solve the problems that we have identified in The Game.”
While the fans and media will definitely want to watch training sessions for their own purposes, the coaches watch them with extra scrutiny like a hawk and for a different purpose, trying to find what’s good here and poke a hole there.
“Having been able to watch the team’s training sessions has also enabled us to analyse the approach of a professional club (Al Ittihad) and a national team (Korea Republic Women’s U19’s),” continued Edwards.
“The last two days has been great. The coaches were placed in groups of three or four and then asked to develop a PowerPoint presentation of their analyses of the AFC Champions League game between FC Seoul and Al Ittihad.
“They then had to present the training session that they had designed from this game to the group in a role-play scenario or ‘player’s meeting’. They then went onto the field to deliver the training session,” added the former Malaysian league pro player.
The highly educated Batch 2010 members are also adept at using technology which, blended with the practical experience, will stand them in good stead.
Edwards said: “The standard of the presentations and ‘team meeting’ was of a very high order with excellent use of video and photos that highlighted the identified problems from the game.
“The coaches also showed promise on the field and with practice and more experience will be able to more effectively take what they have learnt from the course and move from ‘commentating’ and ‘telling’ to teaching using the learnt coaching method which promotes the guided discovery approach.
“All in all, the coaches have been excellent ambassadors for their respective countries, they have all been attentive, respectful and inquisitive,” commended Edwards.
Wise investment
Edwards totally believes that the Project Future coaches programme is a wonderful initiative in helping the members become as seasoned fast as possible.
“There are so many young potentially talented coaches throughout Asia who are thirsting for knowledge and the only way to gain this knowledge is to be provided with opportunity,” he said.
“You can only coach or teach what you know so the more you know, the more you learn through experience, the better you and the players you have the privilege to coach become.
“It is so important to have skilled coaches because with better coaches comes better football. This is what the Project Future is all about.
“The AFC, in conjunction with the member associations, is investing wisely in the future of the game with this programme,” Edwards concluded.
By: Zam Yusa