9 take coaching course

Northern Mariana Islands Football Association technical director Michiteru Mita, third left back row, watches Joshua Abragan, front row left, and Ronnel Ocanada battle for possession during a practical session in the NMIFA “C” Coaching Course last Monday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville. (Contributed Photo)

National team players were among the nine individuals who signed up for Northern Mariana Islands Football Association “C” Coaching Course that will run for two weeks at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.

Joshua Abragan of the men’s national squad, Katrina Costales and Lilian Podziewski of the women’s team, and Rinto Takahashi of the youth group started taking the course last Monday and were joined on the class by Albert Bergancia, Ivan Ilmov, Martin Jambor, Davy Laxa, and Ronnel Oacanada.

NMIFA technical director and CNMI head coach Michiteru Mita is conducting the course with the help of assistant coaches Angie Ito and Jersh Angeles and the former is pleased to see national players attending the classes.

“They are born here, they have the NMI identity. They have to start to get involved in coaching and spread and pass their passion to the next generation,” Mita said.

“This is very important to develop the islands’ style of football. Foreign coaches like me support the NMI football development, but in the near future, these players have to the take the initiative of developing NMI football and gradually build their own football culture,” he added.

Coaches and participants in the NMIFA “C” Coaching Course pose for a photo before starting the practical part of their classes. (Contributed Photo)

The NMIFA official added that as national team players, it is also their responsibility to help grow the sport by learning skills that will help them improve as players and later on as coaches so that they will be able to share their knowledge to the community.

Mita also took note that this year’s batch of coaches/players are the first ones to take a course under NMIFA’s own coaching program.

“This is first time that we are having the NMIFA ‘C’ License Course after we had the AFC coach convention in 2019. The course is tailor-made by NMI national coaches to suit the islands’ football environment,” the NMIFA technical director said.

The course will feature both theoretical and practical classes and it started with Mita providing participants guidance on coaching profession last Monday. The first week of the course then tackled coaching tactics and methods, game analysis, drills, and attacking plays. This weekend, Mita and his assistant coaches will focus on defensive plays and goalkeeping, while practical assessment will be done after the class.

For the final week, the course will discuss growth development, team management, laws of the game, women’s football, injury prevention, nutrition, and hygiene and safety. The course will then conclude with practical and theoretical exams set for Feb. 21.

After a few days of session, Mita is pleased with the response of the participants.

“I can see the participants seriousness and commitment. They want to become better coaches. Their right attitude and dedication will raise the quality of our coaching course.”