Japan Football Association (JFA) held the opening ceremony for the FIFA/JFA Coach Educators' Development Pathway Programme online on Friday 14 April.

This programme is one of the programmes offered by FIFA to its member associations and is carried out in collaboration with FIFA and JFA with the aim of developing “tutors” (coach educators) who will be in charge of training coaches. During the programme, the learning initiative is left to the coach educators themselves, with technical experts providing a range of assignments and support both online and onsite.

Twenty participating coach educators, Mr. Branimir UJEVIC, FIFA Head of Coaching & Player Development, and other FIFA officials were present for the opening ceremony, which took place online.

After Mr. UJEVIC spoke on behalf of FIFA in the opening remarks, Mr. Mohamed BASIR, FIFA Senior Manager, Coaching Development Department, gave a summary of the programme. The overall structure of the programme, as well as the specifics of each session were then explained by Mr. ONO Takeshi, JFA Deputy Technical Director. The JFA Senior Coach Educators, who will support and deepen the learning of the participating coach educators, were introduced in the second half of the ceremony, along with each participant introducing themselves. While the participants appeared anxious, it was also clear that they were excited and had high expectations for the programme.

Following the opening ceremony, the participants will proceed with their independent study through online learning until June. Then, in July, they will participate in online lectures and group training held at Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field, which will be followed by online and onsite mentoring in autumn.

FIFA Comment

Mr. Branimir UJEVIC (FIFA Head of Coaching & Player Development)
On behalf of FIFA, we are happy and proud to join this collaboration between the FIFA and Japan Football Association. I would like to say “big thank you" to JFA members and also would like to pass warm regards to all participants. We can promise one thing that we will do our best in this process to provide the best expertise. It is important that align with JFA's vision in coach education. We are very well known that you have a long-term vision and plan for development, and we hope that this step will be just the beginning of our long-term collaboration.

JFA Comment

ONO Takeshi, JFA Deputy Technical Director
We are very happy to start this collaborative project between FIFA and JFA. Although we have developed curricula and methods for training coaches, the world as a whole and us in particular are still exploring the issue of how to train coach educators (tutors). Therefore, we have had a tendency to concentrate only on teaching methods rather than offering practical training.
This project is characterised by a “two-tier” programme in which JFA Senior Tutors, together with FIFA staff, offer comprehensive training to 20 potential tutors selected from each region, using cutting-edge methods and a range of tools developed by FIFA with a primary focus on “how to develop skills as a tutor.” I am sure that this will have a significant impact not only on the development of tutors, but also on the core principles of coach education.
Mr. Branco (Branimir UJEVIC), FIFA Head of Coaching & Player Development, himself attended the opening ceremony and spoke passionately about the significance of this project, which I believe was very inspiring for the participating tutors and senior tutors.
We sincerely hope that this project will contribute to the improvement of coach education, the development of coaches who value the individuality of each player, the growth of dynamic and talented players, and the advancement of the game of football.
We would like to thank all our colleagues at FIFA, JFA and 47FA for their efforts in making this project possible.

Participants’ Comments

Ms. IWASAKI Mao (Sub-director, FC Gifu Football School)
Being a part of this training programme makes me feel honoured and excited. I was even more motivated after hearing the fervent messages delivered by the FIFA officials at the opening ceremony. I hope to deepen my knowledge and absorb as much as I can from this training programme for tutors, which is a joint initiative of FIFA and JFA. Additionally, I will try my best to communicate with the technical experts and other participants so I can apply what I learn to actual coaching situations.

Mr. KOJIMA Kenji (Kagawa FA Youth Director/FA Coach)
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this FIFA/JFA Coach Educators' Development Pathway Programme, a development programme for coach educators offered by FIFA. Now that the online opening ceremony is over, the online learning programme is about to begin and we hope to grow as much as possible through this programme, which runs until December. Although the programme will initially be conducted online, I am looking forward to meeting my fellow participants in the onsite programme. I will do my best to apply what I learn from this programme in my community and FA.