The sixteenth edition of “From Pitches in Asia” report, in which we introduce the viewpoints of instructors active in Asian countries, is written by NAGIRA Masayuki,  Coach of the Chinese Taipei Women's National Team.

Life in Chinese Taipei

Time flies and it has already been two and a half years since I started to work for  Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA). I rarely feel stressed living in this country as Taiwanese people are very kind. When I get lost on the street, they always try to help me in Chinese. Although I cannot fully understand, I manage to communicate with gestures or by writing Chinese characters. People queue up to get on trains and never use priority seats even when it is crowded to let the elderly, expecting mothers or disabled people have the seats.

Current Activities

We organise weekly training camps from Monday to Thursday for the National Team with support from the Government of Taiwan and CTFA. In most of other countries, national teams have a training camp only one week before competitions, however, with kind understanding from clubs and universities, we hold training sessions 15-20 days per month on average.

Our team mainly consists of students and company employees. They go back to their respective clubs on Thursday afternoon to join training sessions of their clubs and play in the Taiwan Mulan Football League at weekends.

Coaching staff of our National Team visit stadiums and watch league matches every weekend. We also make researches on Preliminary Round 1 of East Asian Cup next month in preparation for the Preliminary Round 2 which will be held in November.   Our development strategy is also focusing on the Universiade (the World University Games) 2017 which will be hosted here in Chinese Taipei. In addition, we hold training camps abroad twice a year, including one in Tokinosumika, Shizuoka in Japan this month.

Aims of Chinese Taipei football

The aim of our team is to play dynamic and give courage and inspiration to the crowd. We aim to play hard for the full 90 minutes in both offence and defence, improve possessions with plans, and have control of games with attacks with direct plays. Our role model is, of course, ‘Nadeshiko Japan’. Japan is very popular among the players, and two of them play in the Nadeshiko League. Playing in Japan has a certain status for them.

Current challenges

Improving individual skills is essential to play at higher level. There are many players, who did not have enough opportunities to train basic skills at younger age.  Development of youth categories and coaches are also important. CTFA has been working on improvement of playing environment for girls to have more access to  football.

At youth competitions, I sometime have chances to meet coaching staff of the participating teams and discuss on various subjects – for example not too much focusing on win/lose in this generation. CTFA is also focusing on the coaching development and hosts refresher training courses as well as academy sessions inviting instructors from abroad.

Importance of communication

In order to foster friendly relations, I try to communicate with people as much as possible. While I always have a spirit of respect, it is important to make your idea clear enough to everyone. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, I choose time when all the key persons are present in order to mention anything important.

You need to learn their culture and accept the differences. Things that are normal in your own country are different in abroad for most of times. I am always open to have discussions with everyone from each of their perspective so we can have better understanding and find good ways.

In conclusion

Football in Chinese Taipei has a plenty of room to develop, and I know that they have a great potential with hidden power. I will continue to do my best to contribute more to the development of football in Taiwan.

In this pro-Japan country, you can meet great people and wonderful cuisine. Please come and experience Taiwan. You will love this country!