Japan Football Association (JFA) held an online closing ceremony for the FIFA/JFA Coach Educators' Development Pathway Programme on Thursday, 14 December.

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.

The programme started in April and following e-learning, online lectures, onsite workshops and mentoring sessions where each participant actually took on a course as a tutor, the 18 tutors selected from each region have completed the programme.

Mr. Branimir UJEVIC, FIFA Head of Coaching Development, and Mr. Dany RYSER, FIFA Technical Expert, attended the closing ceremony online. Both wished the participants’ continued success after completing the eight-month programme, while Mr. Mohamed BASIR, FIFA Senior Manager, also delivered a message to the participants.

In the second half of the ceremony, the JFA Senior Tutors and each of the participants gave a presentation on their experience of the programme and their observations from the mentoring sessions, showing their determination to take what they had learned through active learning and the learner-centred approach back home to train coaches in their respective regions.

FIFA's Comment

Mr. Branimir UJEVIC
I am very happy to be here with you. Time flies. When we started this process eight months ago at the opening ceremony, I was in Buenos Aires. Since then, I have visited you in Tokyo and now I am in Miami.

I remember at the opening ceremony we promised JFA and all the participants that we would make this process about you, not about us. Our only wish is that we have succeeded in keeping that promise. This would not be possible without the close cooperation between the JFA and FIFA.

And we, as organisers, have taken on a huge responsibility to make this educational process available to all coach educators. Our aim throughout this process has been to inspire you, all coach educators, to take responsibility for the education in your regions.

Personally, and as FIFA's Head of Coaching Development, I hope that we have achieved this goal and that you understand the message behind the whole process, which needs to be passed on from coach educators to coaches and from coaches to players.

Together, FIFA and JFA have made this process about the coach educators. Just like in football at the end of the game, if we say we have done our best, then we can be happy and move on. On behalf of our department, on behalf of Basir and Daniel, I can confirm that we have done our best in this process.

This is the moment when you have to take responsibility for implementing these lessons in your environment and try to pass on exactly the same message of how to make others better.

I am very proud and humbled by this opportunity to work with such great people at the Japan FA, people who love football and education and have it in their blood and under their skin, and people who are so open-minded and want to work hard to improve football in Japan.

JFA's Comment

ONO Takeshi (JFA Deputy Technical Director)
The eight-month programme proceeded in a unique two-tier structure, with JFA senior tutors mentoring selected coach educators from nine regions under the guidance of FIFA experts. The programme itself was also very stimulating as we took a deep dive into the “what” and “how” through active learning and active listening sessions to get the participants more involved. I would like to thank the coach educators from each region who, despite the challenges they have faced since the start of the programme, have shown great progress in the actual coaching sessions at the end of the programme, the senior tutors who have observed and helped them improve and, above all, the FIFA experts who have worked closely and persistently with us to put the programme into practice. We strongly believe that this programme will also have a significant impact on the tutor education scene in each region. The FIFA Technical Leadership Diploma course was recently held in Japan, and the importance of developing coach educators to “give every talent a chance” was reiterated. This means that no matter where a child is born and raised, he or she will be able to develop their talent by meeting a coach who can help them pursue the joy of football. Good coach educators (tutors) are important for the development of good coaches. It is hoped that this programme, which will be held again next term, will further accelerate the development of coach education in Japan.

Participants' Comments

Ms. UKITA Akina (Hokkaido FA/Hokkaido Lila Consadole)
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this programme. It allowed us to revisit what we had learned in the e-learning course and to experience and share ideas in a series of well-designed activities. It was a valuable opportunity for someone like me who has little experience as a tutor. The programme, which began in April, concluded with a closing ceremony in December. Although it was held online, the closing ceremony made me grateful for the opportunity to learn with so many people, and it made me want to do my best to contribute to Hokkaido football, even if it is in a small way.
Thank you very much for your support.
We look forward to working with you in the future!

Mr. SUZUKI Hideo (Chiba FA Senior Tutor/Edogawa University)
As the FIFA/JFA Coach Educators' Development Pathway Programme draws to a close, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the FIFA and JFA instructors and my fellow participants. Looking back over the eight months, the e-learning, online and onsite programmes have made me think deeply about what it means to be a coach educator. Not only the programme itself, but also the guidance of Mr. Branimir UJEVIC was truly “learner-centred” and extremely enlightening. I would like to make every effort to educate coaches and develop players to achieve the ideal that Japanese football aspires to.