17 take AFC C coaching course

Participants in the Asian Football Confederation C certification course watch a player demonstrates proper shooting techniques during their first assessment test at the NMI Soccer Training Center late last month. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association continues to stock its pool of qualified coaches as it hosted another Asian Football Confederation “C” coaching certificate course.

The course, held from June 26 to July 8 and attended by 17 coaches from various NMIFA-member clubs, was led by former NMIFA technical director and CNMI Men’s National Team coach Kiyoshi Sekiguchi, who conducted a similar class last year.

“I was appointed as the instructor of the course by Asian Football Confederation and NMIFA. The participants are very serious and aggressive in the course. I hope they are going to lead CNMI football,” said Sekiguchi in an interview with Saipan Tribune after the first practical assessment test held early this month at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.

“I hope they enjoy coaching in football and will keep working hard with their team for the bright future of NMIFA,” said Sekiguchi, who was assisted at the course by NMIFA technical director Michiteru Mita and NMIFA assistant coach Jersh Angeles.

Besides the club coaches, former and current members of the CNMI national teams also attended the two-week course.

“It’s harder than I thought, it makes me appreciate and respect the coaching staffs even more. The best part about the course is that it helps me view the game from a different prospective and improve my knowledge on the game,” said Bo Barry, who is on-island to train with the CNMI Men’s National Team pool.

“The course was challenging and fun. We have to be both a player and a coach. The most challenging part was to focus on thinking as a coach—which is very different from being just a player,” said Shirley’s Football Club coach Marilou Arriola, who once played for the national team.

“I took the course because I still want to be involved in football in the most effective way possible for me. As a former national team player, I appreciated having quality coaches and I know that many of our young players could really benefit from local qualified coaches. We’re very fortunate to be able to take this course on Saipan. I’m looking forward to passing the course and applying what I’ve learned,” she added.

The course was divided into theoretical and practical portions and after each session, Sekiguchi asked participants their concerns about a certain topic and addressed their questions based on the usual happening at the pitch.

“Each coach has different style and the best way to relay these lessons is in actual game situations,” Sekiguchi said during the question and answer part of the course.