The 2019 JFA Kids Traveling Guidance Representative Refresher Course was held for two days on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May at Teijin Academy Fuji in Shizuoka.

The course was held to heighten the quality of the instructors involved in the traveling guidance conducted by the 47 Prefectural Football Associations, and it was held for the second time following last year. This year’s course focused on conducting practical sessions that simulated the actual guidance held at each location.

Instructor’s Comment

MINAGAWA Shinichi, JFA Instructor
One of the three main components of the Kids Project is the “Traveling Guidance” and this refresher course was dedicated to improving the quality of it. The traveling guidance is an activity carried out by the 47 Prefectural Football Associations (47 FA), where they send instructors to kindergartens, nurseries, and primary schools to teach the kids the joy of playing football. I believe it is an important programme to spread the popularity of football among children. We gathered the traveling guidance representatives from the 47FA to discuss topics such as, “How do we convey the joy of playing football to children?” and “How do we organise the activity?” Following the group discussions, we held two practical sessions to simulate the actual guidance activity. After the refresher course, we strongly requested all the participants to take back the information they’ve acquired to their own Football Associations to spread the knowledge among the guidance instructors. We believe that the kid’s impression of the sport can be deeply affected by the way the instructor introduces the sport for the first time. We hope that each of the Football Associations can create an atmosphere filled with smiles and laughter for the kids to indulge themselves in playing football. We were fortunate that the weather cooperated with us for the two-day course, and every participant showed great enthusiasm to make this a productive course. We will continue to support the Football Associations to further develop the traveling guidance programme.

Participants' Comments

Ms. TANAKA Risa (Shimane Prefecture Football Association)
Continuing from last year, this was my second time attending the refresher course and once again, I was provided with a very productive learning experience, thanks to the experienced instructors who helped us during the course. We learned that a simple approach like, “Calling the kids by their first name,” can help build a better relationship with the kids, and the importance of being detail oriented. Once I return to my own Football Association, I will share the information with the other instructors and utilise the knowledge to our future activities.

Mr. OTA Tadanobu (Miyazaki Football Association)
This was my first time attending the course, and it gave me a wonderful learning experience. It is important that we recognise the fact that we are involved in developing the future Japan National Team members. We have the responsibility to create a pleasant experience for the kids to get introduced to the sport and we hope to create a welcoming environment that can allow the kids indulge themselves in the joy of playing football, while getting more adults involved.

Mr. HAGIWARA Toyoyuki (Shizuoka Pref. Football Association)
The course gave us the opportunity to meet and hear the voices of the instructors from all over the nation, and it gave us a great learning experience. We were able to reconfirm the importance of the four basic activities, organisation skills, and the coordination with the support staffs. It also made us revisit the joy of playing together as a team, which is one of the most important components of playing football. I will do my best to bring back all the things I’ve learned from this course to give back to my local football community.