FUTURO III PROMISES A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR OCEANIA COACHING DEVELOPMENT
The 2006 Futuro III Coaching Refresher Course concluded at the Millennium Centre, Auckland today and was declared an overwhelming success by FIFA Development Officer, Glenn Turner.
The course, designed to assist “coaches to coach coaches” within the Oceania Confederation, was run by FIFA Instructors, Roy Miller (Northern Ireland) and Dr. Gyorgy Mezey (Hungary), and followed up last year’s introductory programme held in July 2005.
The refresher course provided last year’s participants with the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with various aspects of coaching development that included match analysis, tutoring, presentation skills, technical and skills co-ordination, video and laptop analysis, coach practice, a visit to a professional club (New Zealand Knights) and the importance of small sided games in developing playing talent.
Roy Miller was buoyed by the coaching talent on display.
“These were very capable candidates. There was youthfulness, a vibrancy and level of enthusiasm that says to me the future of football in Oceania is very, very healthy. There is a real feeling of optimism about the next generation of coaches,” Miller said.
Miller said the course was both intense and challenging but the candidates developed a sense of camaraderie and teamwork that created a positive learning environment. Miller believes the challenge now was for those on the course to take what they had learned back to their countries and add value to their own development programmes.
Dr. Mezey was equally impressed by the open atmosphere and desire to learn.
“The people in Oceania are very open and welcoming and this means we have been able to teach more in one week than in many other places in the world. The candidates motivation levels were very high and they have made huge steps forward in their development,” Dr. Mezey said.
Patrick Miniti, coach of the Solomon Island U-20 national team, was equally positive.
“This course has provided us with a methodology that is very progressive. Roy (Miller) and Gyorgy (Mezey) applied a practical and scientific approach to the practical coaching sessions that I found highly relevant to the needs of football in my country,” Miniti said.
Tahitian development officer, Alain Neuffer, said the technical and tactical information that was imparted during the course was “just extraordinary”.
Neuffer added that the instructors information on how to teach coaches was good and that the course had offered participants the opportunity to discuss solutions to many of the shared challenges within the Confederation.
Papua New Guinea’s John Davani said building coaches in Oceania was critical and the course instructors and facilities were first class. Davani said he aimed to implement many of the lessons of the course in technical development at junior level back home.
Roy Miller and Dr Mezey had praise for the involvement of local high school students from Rangitoto College who took part in training sessions run by course participants.