The third domestic AFC Beach Soccer Coaching Certificate Course Level 1 was held at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach court and Kinuura Grand Hotel in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture for six days from Tuesday 11 to Sunday 16 September.

Mr. TALIB HILAL (current coach of the Oman Beach Soccer National Team) who instructed the previous course held in Okayama Prefecture last year was welcomed as the instructor once again. Eight participants including the Japan Beach Soccer National Team Coach RAMOS Ruy and other beach soccer coaches and players were seen taking the course.

This particular course is a specialised course of the AFC, which is established to develop personals that can coach the fundamental skills of beach soccer. This certification has been required for all coaches of teams entering tournaments hosted by the AFC since 2017. Starting from 2020, the course level 2 is scheduled to be required.

The lecture portion started out by outlining the course and sharing the certification requirements. The AFC licence system and the future plan of the course were also explained at this section. The course progressed by lecturing fundamental guidelines to coach the sport, as they went through rules of beach soccer, nutrition, and injury prevention. Specific techniques and strategies utilised in beach soccer were also introduced, as the participants went through group works, analysing this years Europe league matches to conduct a discussion.

During the practical training session, the participants were given many themes, such as warm-ups, passing and shooting, offensive and defensive tactics, and goalkeeping, as they were seen listening in carefully to what the instructors had to say and watched the demonstrations up close. Despite the course being conducted towards a limited number of participants, they all played with great intention and the practical training session was held under a very positive vibe.

The course concluded with the participants taking the written test and practical coaching test. The participants will now return to their teams and conduct the assignments given by the AFC to earn their licenses.

Instructor's Comment

TALIB HILAL, Instructor
Thank you very much for spending the week for this course. I am grateful for everyone’s devotion to this course and to the fact no one was injured. I hope that we have learned many things over this week. However, what’s more important is that the participants continue to study even after they return to their hometown and contribute to their teams what they have learnt. There is a growing demand for beach soccer coaches in Asia, but the number of players and coaches are still very limited. The AFC will continue to strive to spread the sport’s popularity and increase the number of players and coaches. I felt great potential from the participants of this course. They all have the capability to make our goal come to reality, and I have great faith in them. This was my second visit to Japan, and with everyone’s great support, we were able to conduct this great course. Thank you very much.

Participant's Comment

YAMAMOTO Naoaki
I was able to devote myself to focus just on beach soccer for the entire six days of this AFC Beach Soccer Coaching Certificate Course. I have never had the time to spend so much time to think about beach soccer before. Instructor Talib Hilal has shared us his great coaching experience and gave us the opportunity to rethink about the sport from scratch. It made us realise many new aspects and once I return to my hometown, I hope to implement what I’ve learnt here to my team and schools. I was very fortunate to be surrounded by so many good friends, which allowed me to spend such a productive time here. Thank you very much.