oceaniafootball.com sat down with OFC Coaching Education Manager and former New Caledonia national team coach Didier Chambaron to learn about the Player Development seminar currently held in the Oceania region for the first time in Port Vila, Vanuatu on March 3-7.
OFC: What is the objective of this seminar?
Chambaron: FIFA and OFC wants to help OFC member associations to build a vision and strategy for the development of young players in the Oceania Game. This would be led by the principles of Long Term Player Development (LTPD) which is a player centred approach to achieving a players’ fullest potential throughout their involvement in football.
The development of a player is a long process in which the players progress gradually from a simple to a more complex involvement in the game. This progression requires proper guidance and direction that connects players from six to 18 years old for optimum development
Without a curriculum, the player development process becomes disjointed, difficult to monitor and evaluate, causing players to graduate with skill gaps. There is no guarantee that a player will reach his or her potential, but the opportunity must be provided.
OFC: Is it the first time this seminar has been organised in Oceania?
Chambaron: Yes, it is the first Player Development seminar held in the confederation. It follows a regional Grassroots seminar focussed on players six to 12 years old (AKL Feb 2012). All member associations had a FIFA Grassroots course in 2012 – 2013.
OFC: Why did you choose Vanuatu?
Chambaron: For me, true player development occurs when each player’s daily training and playing environment is of the highest quality. With our partnership with Asia Pacific Football Academy and their support and expertise in this environment development is becoming more consistent in Vanuatu.
We think it’s a good opportunity to give OFC member associations a clear vision of what lies ahead for the players in terms of daily training on and off the pitch in a positive football environment
OFC: What will be the key messages delivered?
Chambaron: We want to give broad direction to Oceania football environments while impacting the development of youth players.
The purpose is to create a shared vision that is representative of OFC members associations. In order to ensure optimal development for players, we must have a detailed or comprehensive plan or model to achieve our goals. Constructing a development model requires that we:
-Build progressive age-appropriate stages of development. This applies for Training and competitions
-Integrate all aspects of play (mental/cognitive, tactical, technical and physical) around players’ needs
-Use a training curriculum to cover all aspects of the game for each developmental stage in training.
OFC: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the youth football development in the region?
Chambaron: Who are the players? This question should be the starting point of all football programmes. Everyone is different and the key point is to meet individual needs.
The single most important goal a coach of young players can have is to create a passion for the game. It is passion that keeps a player in the game for a lifetime. It is passion that motivates many players to practice off the field – Children should spend hours a week during their leisure time. The game can be played anywhere the ball can roll, and playing in a variety of conditions helps to develop more well-rounded players.
So far players don’t practice enough (in terms of training and games) – duration of the season is too short.
OFC: What will bring to this seminar to the young development and the coaches?
Chambaron: We promote active participation. Youth prefer to be stimulated instead of being instructed.
The objective is to introduce a new approach. Rather than concentrating on the execution of skills, we want coaches to teach children to understand all aspects of the game. Too much drills will kill the young players’ innate potential.
Actually coaches should carefully and progressively develop youth capacities, including perception, analysis of simple game situations, and correct decision making under ‘low’ stressful conditions. We have to stimulate players’ mind.

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