VIENTIANE (13 April 2013) – The future of football coaching education in Laos certainly looks promising following a ‘D’ License coaching course conducted in Xieng Kuang province for 24 football enthusiasts.
The course at the Ban Ly Vocational Training Centre, was spearheaded by Spirit of Soccer- an NGO that uses football to educate children and coaches in post-conflict regions about mines, and supported by the Lao Football Federation (LFF) and the Department of Physical and Arts Education of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
The ‘D’ License coaching course, organised for the second time in Xieng Kuang, is aimed at beginner coaches and teachers of players up to 12 years of age and is designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of their role as a coach and to provide them with practical ideas for training sessions.
While LFF and Spirit of Soccer mainly developed the course content, MoES was responsible for identifying and recruiting suitable participants.
“We selected mostly physical education teachers as they are the ones who reach out to young children on a daily basis. Moreover, they already have basic football skills,” said Thongmai Souvimon, Deputy Director General of the Department of Physical and Arts Education at MoES.
Alongside Scott Lee, Spirit of Soccer’s founder and international football coaching expert, LFF Technical Director Kiyoshi Sekiguchi and LFF Assistant Technical Director Somsack Keodala conducted both theory and practical sessions to teach the participants.
Pleased that such a course was being organised in the province, Assistant Technical Director Keodala said, “Outside of Vientiane, football coaching education is still in its developing stages. This course definitely sets the pace for similar courses to be organised elsewhere in the country.”
Also expressing his satisfaction with the course was Technical Director Sekiguchi who said: “the participants were enthusiastic about learning. I am positive that some of them will put what they have learnt to good use and share their football knowledge with children in the province.”
Xieng Kuang province is one of the most heavily bombed places in the world, with approximately five people getting maimed or killed every month, making education about the dangers of unexploded ordinance (UXOs) a high priority.
After rounding up the children, Spirit of Soccer coaches kicked off the session with simple warm up, drills and games followed by an interactive educational session about mines, using the football and informational posters to convey safety messages.
