The intensive course of the Class S Coach Training Course 2021 Module3 took place between Monday 6 to Thursday 9 September. This year, the third module of the Class S Coach Training Course has been taking place online, and the participants have been assigned with a theme to hold a 20 minute presentation throughout the course.

Module 3 Intensive Course (5)

Date: Mon. 6 - Thu. 9 September

Participant's Comment 

Mr. SHIRAI Hiroyuki (Sagan Tosu/Head of Coaching)
With the third module starting last week, the intensive course was held from Monday 6 to Thursday 9 September. Although the course was originally scheduled to take place at YUME Field in Chiba, unfortunately the course was changed to take place online, due to the issuance of the state of emergency.

We started the course by reviewing the practical coaching sessions held at J-Village (Fukushima) last week. Here we were reminded that our participation was not enough and that we needed to “reconfirm our goals of this Class S Coach Training Course,” “acknowledge what is expected from us,” and “create our own judgement criteria.”

We were then given the opportunity to take a lecture on “Promotional Activities of JFA” by Mr. NAKAYAMA Masao of the JFA Technical Committee. The lecture started with the question, “what is grassroots football?” followed by topics regarding “the JFA Declaration on Grassroots Football” and “the activities and value of grassroots,” which were something I have not engaged in before. In addition, at the end of the lecture we discussed ways to integrate “development and promotion” and “competition and grassroots,” which we used to think were on different ends of the spectrum. We had to be creative to come up with non-conventional ways of thinking and methodology, in order to solve and develop these issues. This theme has been lingering through my head even after the lecture. How would you integrate these sets of themes?

The next lecture was on presentations. At the end of the second module, all 16 participants were each assigned with a different theme and was given the task of preparing for a 20 minute presentation according to that theme. Unlike the previous presentation on modern coaching theory, there were a few requirements we had to follow in order to prepare for the presentation: (1) logical construction, (2) use of realistic terms and theories, and (3) use of data. Each participant was devising a way to make the presentation more effective, whether by using colours and animation on their slides, reducing the eye movements of the listeners, use of validity and logic to lead the presentation to a certain conclusion, etc. Various efforts were seen through each presentation, which allowed us to gain lots of new findings and perspective.

Lastly, we listen to the lecture given by Mr. MATSUDA Hiroshi, the current coach of V-Varen Nagasaki, on “Professional coaching theory.” Through his experience of taking over the helm during a season, and his wealth of knowledge as a J.League coach and academy director, Mr. Matsuda shared us with some valuable stories such as the importance of “creating your own judgement criteria” and “developing you own vision as a coach.” During his lecture, Mr. Matsuda mentioned, “Be particular about the game, but don’t get bounded by the result” and “a coach is lonely, but a coach must not be isolated,” which reminded me the importance to have a clear vision on how to manage your staffs and players.

Although the course schedule was effected by the Covid-19 pandemic, we were able to deepen our understanding through the third module. The participants were able to create an atmosphere where we can all share our opinions and make suggestions without hesitation. Also, we were able to participate in the lectures remotely without any issues, and we were able to spend a very meaningful time. We would like to thank everyone involved for their support.

Next time we will share the report of Mr. Takahashi Yuki (Toyama Shinjo Club).