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FA Coaching Courses
The world’s most prestigious soccer certification is finally available in Japan
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Since the inauguration of the J. League in 1993, there has been a steady contingent of non-Japanese players, coaches and managers who have enjoyed success (or at least large paychecks) at their Japanese clubs. Take the German duo of Guido Buchwald and Gert Engels, for example. As manager and coach of the Urawa Reds, they took the club to their first Emperor’s Cup win in 25 years, earning a spot in next year’s Asian Champions League competition, and to the brink of their first J. League title. However, while non-Japanese players and coaches are often viewed as being able to bring something “extra” to the table in the professional game, at soccer’s grassroots levels in Japan, such progressive thinking is often the exception rather than the rule.
But now, the English Football Association (FA) and Footy Japan— a local marketing company aimed primarily at the needs of the international soccer community here—are rewriting the book in this area. This summer, in an unprecedented move in the 150-year history of English soccer’s governing body, the FA sanctioned two of its prestigious coaching license courses to be held outside the UK, under the supervision of one of their most qualified and respected educators, Stephen Lister.
“It was great news when we got the official nod to go ahead with these entry-level courses in Japan,” said Lister, after announcing that all 17 candidates on the Level 1 course held at a sports complex in central Tokyo had passed. “And I’m thrilled to be able to pass on the English style of football to such a mixed bunch of coaches in Japan. There were candidates on the course—all living and working in Japan—from England, America, Romania, Finland, Scotland, Wales. But, for me, it was particularly rewarding giving an English coaching qualification to our Japanese participants.”
Lister is returning to Japan in February 2007 to offer two more entry-level coaching license courses, which will again be mediated by Footy Japan and supported by British Airways and Metropolis (who also support the Tokyo Metropolis League, another of Footy Japan’s operations). As the number of places is limited to 16 participants per course, competition for entry is expected to be fierce—a good thing, according to Leigh Manson, Director of Education at the British Football Academy in Tokyo and himself a UEFA “B” License holder.
“At the British Football Academy, our coach-to-child ratio is really low, in some cases 1:8 with the younger age groups,” he says. “It’s the same principle for coach education: keep the ratio between student and teacher as low as possible to maximize learning. All of my coaching staff have, and continue to undergo, FA training, even though they’re living and working in Japan.”
Manson added: “Anyone who wants to enroll in the course badly enough will get in. One of my newest recruits at the Academy was an English teacher who was so desperate to get out of teaching that, at the first whiff of the FA holding courses in Japan, he booked his place. Now, instead of being stuck in a classroom, he’s out on the field every day making more than a decent living coaching youngsters at the Academy.”
Although the FA courses are held in English, non-native speakers need not fear because, according to Lister, the language of “the Beautiful Game” is one that’s spoken the world over.
“In football, we all speak the same language no matter where we come from. The rules and regulations of the game are the same all over the world. In football there’s one ball and two goals—essentially, we all play the same game.”
For information on the FA courses and football coaching in Japan, check out the Footy Japan website at www.footyjapan.com or call 03-3770-0288.
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