Coaching ● Oct 11, 2016
Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning
Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning
In line with its aim of expanding the pool of quality coaches at all levels, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) held its second Grassroots Refresher Course on 25 September 2016. The participants included 18 coaches who had graduated from the FAS Grassroots coaching courses last year.
Facilitated by FAS Head of Coach Education, Mohamed Basir Ellaya Kutty, the practical and theoretical lessons were conducted by lead tutor Herman Zailani, co-tutors Mohd Zainudeen and Kamarudzaman Zainal and assistant tutor Razif Ariff.
Mr Basir, the former Head of Coach Education Department at the Asian Football Confederation, said: “As part of our Continuous Coach Education (CCE) initiatives, we organised this Refresher Workshop, among the many to come, for our existing Cubs coaches. We believe that workshops like these are very important as they allow us to keep our key partners – the coaches who are running our programmes – updated. It allows us to keep in touch with them, thus ensuring consistency in the delivery of coaching content and the use of appropriate methodology. This is also a platform where we can start to imbue the National Football Development plans and philosophies to make not just better players but also better persons, and to ensure that the quality is controlled in our programmes, be it the FAS Cubs, JCOE or COE.”
Lead tutor, Mr Herman Zailani said: “It is great that the FAS is constantly looking at ways to enhance coaches‚Äô knowledge, and such specific sessions will allow them to keep abreast of the latest coaching developments, among others.
‚ÄúCoaching the various age-group levels requires specific skill-set and obtaining certification as a grassroots coach is only the first step. I am happy to play a part in FAS’ strategy to expand the pool of qualified coaches, who will train young children basic football skills and imbue in them lifelong values while having fun. Fostering a culture of continuous learning is key in an ever-evolving environment and I am glad to see the coaches‚Äô active involvement in the session as participation in refresher courses like this, as well as other CCE sessions, will allow them to expand their knowledge and depth of understanding in grassroots coaching,” he added
Concurring, Cubs coach Leonard Tan commented: “I thought that the grassroots refresher was a great initiative to help me revisit what I was taught in the inaugural grassroots course last year. We were updated on the football terminologies which helped us gauge if our training sessions were in line with the spirit of grassroots football. We will apply the knowledge we have gained to our training sessions at the Cubs Centre to create a more fun and enjoyable experience for the children without compromising the quality of training.”
Mr Basir concluded: “We would like to thank our tutors for their contributions, as well as the participants for their active participation – without which this programme would not have been a success. Going forward, we will continue to organise educational and sharing sessions. for our coaches who play a key role in developing future generations of players not only on the pitch, but also off the field.”
