Zapanta completes AFC football administration course

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association took part in another Asian Football Confederation milestone after sending Ruselle Zapanta to the first-ever AFC Football Administration Certificate program.

Zapanta eventually became one of the 18 graduates of the nine-month course that run from July 2016 to last month and had participants travelling to Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia to attend seminars conducted by distinguished resource speakers from around the world.

The AFC FAC aims to assist individuals in developing a set of skills specific to football and train them for future senior management of the AFC Member Associations (MAs). It also directly assists the MAs on having up-to-date management techniques and administration best practices. The program emphasized on six football core competencies: organization of world football, strategic management, revenue generation, media and communications, and events and operations management.

“We had instructors from the renowned World Academy of Sports (WAoS) to develop our football management skill-sets. They came from as far as Ireland, England, and Switzerland. We also had local experts from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia,” said Zapanta, who after traveling for theoretical and practical sessions of the AFC FAC had to continue working online to meet the requirements of the program.

“That’s the most challenging part of the course. We did four case studies in between the face-to-face sessions. Back home, we had to find and make time to study, research, and produce our paper on top of our busy schedules. I just had to deal with it and push myself. I did not want to be the person that does not pass and being the participant from the smallest MA, I wanted to represent the CNMI and NMIFA well to the AFC and other soccer bodies,” the Southern United Football Club official said.

“We were assessed on quizzes, individual and group assignments and presentations, as well as an oral examination,” Zapanta added.

The CNMI representative and 17 others from eight Asian countries completed the 250-hour program divided into 70 hours of classroom studies and 180 hours of private ones last month and received their certificate at the graduation ceremony held at the AFC headquarter in Kuala Lumpur.

AFC Development Committee H.E. Mohamed Khalfan Al Romaithi delivered the opening remarks at the graduation rites.

“It demonstrates our belief, through the AFC’s Vision and Mission to strengthen the foundations for our MAs to achieve new benchmarks in governance and professionalism. Above all, it paves the way to develop world-class administrators, who will help bring to life our ambitions under the banner of One Asia, One Goal, to be the world’s leading Confederation.”

Zapanta is honored and grateful for opportunity to complete the AFC FAC program and vows to give back to the community, especially the local football.

“I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in this course and learn from the experts. I want to thank NMIFA for selecting me and my employer for allowing me to participate. This course is just one of the many benefits and opportunities soccer has to offer and I hope other individuals will also go out and be involved with the sport for the benefit of our community,” said Zapanta, who received a merit during the graduation ceremony.

“After completing the course, I am hoping that through my daily soccer and non-soccer related activities I may be able to apply the knowledge I learned from the AFC FAC and share them to others. The marketing/revenue generation sessions really came in handy right away and I hope all the learning will assist me in leading a successful soccer club. As an individual who loves soccer and our home, I hope I can incorporate what I’ve learned to find ways to benefit our community, through soccer,” he said. (PR)