Twenty (20) local futsal coaches successfully completed part of the OFC Senior Futsal C License in the weeklong training and studying held in Honiara at the Holy Cross church compound.
Course instructor, Jerry Sam said the coaches have learned so many vital aspects of futsal coaching after the completion of the first part today.
“Firstly I want to thank OFC and SIFF for making this course available for our local coaches as I can tell at the end of the training today that they have learned so many new things,” he said.
“Most of these coaches are former players and now currently coaching some of the top clubs in the country. We also have two of our national team coaches with us like Francis Lafai and Stanley Puiarana and I could say that they have a huge task to develop the game in our country.”
Sam added that the 20 participants will get qualification based on a final practical assessment in the latter part of the year.
“This is the highest qualification for coaches in the country and I hope most of the participants will get their qualification after completing their practical assessment which will be sent to OFC through a 15-minute video session.
“I am happy to see the enthusiasm these coaches displayed in the past five days and I know futsal is in good hands because of this bunch of coaches.”
Former Solomon Islands player and U-17 national team coach, Stanley Puiarana said the course has broadened his knowledge on how to plan a training session.
“I have learned a lot from this course but the most important thing I learned is how to set up my training sessions and organize myself as a coach,” he said.
“We need more of this type of training since this is very important for our country to remain as the top futsal nation in the region.”
Leonard Paia, SIFF CEO in his closing remarks inspired the local coaches to continue to work hard in terms of the development of futsal as other regional countries are also closing the gap in recent regional tournaments.
“As we all know that we are the current undisputed champions of Oceania and I want to encourage you all to work extra hard behind the scene to help us remain as champions,” he said.
“We can see that other countries are closing the gap in the recent OFC Nations Cup. So it is you who will help us develop future players for our national teams.
“I wish you all the best in your final assessment and I assured you that SIFF will do everything in its capacity to assist you as we are all in this together.”
It has been a busy two weeks for SIFF Futsal Development Officer, Dickson Kadau, and instructor Jerry Sam after delivering the MA Senior Futsal course last week and the OFC Senior C License today.
Kadau encouraged the coaches to complete their final assessment in time which will determine their graduation.
