A file photo of the junior boys match between Bethel Baptist School Vs G Rio School during a tournament held in Nagaland. (Photo Courtesy: RFYS)
Dimapur, August 19 (MExN): Curated by Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) in collaboration with the Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC), a total of 33 coaches from schools, colleges and football institutes in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh participated in a three-day online workshop held from July 19 to 21.
The workshops were conducted by Thangboi Singto, Technical Director and Assistant Coach with Indian Super League (ISL) club Hyderabad FC and former Indian footballer Gumpe Rime, who currently goalkeeping coach at the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) academy in Navi Mumbai.
An update received here stated that the coaches dwelled on various aspects of their role, from how to create an impression through appropriate behaviour and effective communication to imparting life skills to their wards such as discipline, respect and personal control; the intricacies of player scouting; planning training sessions with clear objectives and discipline while creating a positive environment. The challenges of protecting children under their watch from physical, emotional, psychological, sexual and financial exploitation were also elaborated upon.
“The whole programme was very beneficial in all concepts,” said Ayeto Ayemi, coach of Nizam Football Club Dimapur and the General Secretary of Nagaland Football Coaches Association. “Most importantly, this programme gave us acknowledgement that in this remote part of the country, football coaches exist. It is the most important thing that happened to us here.”
“Life skills, which helps everyone to take firm decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate effectively and also, help in building healthy relationships with others was my most important learning here,” says Diethozotuo, Coach, Life Sports Football Club, Chizami. “These skills provide readily available tools to deal with and challenges of daily life, managing emotions, making firm decisions and helps to develop children’s personalities besides their talent. It can help make them mentally and physically strong and realise their true potential.”
At the conclusions of the sessions, Singto and Rime were of the view that enhancing their knowledge base will go a long way towards enabling these coaches to improve the playing standard of the wards under their watch. “From the first day itself we saw participants actively coming on board to share ideas,” said Rime. “They were very inquisitive and the questions that were raised during the course of discussion were all related to the cause of football development.”
“What matters is the quality and level of interaction, and I believe it will have a very long lasting impact on the coaches mindset and their approach to football coaching,” he added. “I am convinced this will immensely benefit the young kids in their respective areas. Since me and coach Thangboi belong to the same region, we all know each other very well, and will definitely keep a tab on the progress each one of them is making.”
“This, I believe, is the best medium for coaches to continue to learn and upgrade themselves in this pandemic situation,” added Singto. “The aim is to develop better coaches for better player development. The idea of these Interactions was knowledge sharing, meeting new coaches, delivering in real and practical situations, clearing doubts and understanding latest footballing trends. I am confident this will help grassroots coaches to prepare themselves in a more systematic and modern way and that will benefit the kids they train.”
In May, 32 coaches from across Jammu and Kashmir participated in a three-day workshop, the first of its kind to be held in the region.
