UEFA coach to conduct clinic on Saipan today

  Union of European Football Associations elite coach Gary White will be in town today to conduct a clinic at the Koblerville Elementary School.

The coaching clinic will run from 4:30pm to 7:30pm with the first one and a half hours of the session devoted to practical part and will be held at the Umangs’ pitch and the remaining hours for lecture at the cafeteria.

“Mr. White was invited by Guam Football Association to conduct clinics for its coaches and players and has set aside Friday for us to avail of Mr. White’s expertise. This is another golden opportunity for NMIFA and its coaches to receive first hand quality instructions from a FIFA national team coach,” Northern Mariana Islands Football Associaiton general secretary Ed Salas said in an email circulated to NMIFA members.

The 37-year-old White was a former coach of the national teams of British Virgin Islands and Bahamas. At age 24, he became one of the youngest national coaches/technical directors of a FIFA-affiliated country (British Virgin Islands) and was also the youngest coach to bring a national team (Bahamas) to the FIFA World Cup at age 25. With White coaching Bahamas, the CONCACAF national federation rose 28 notches to the world ranking, leaping from No. 83 to No. 55.

In October this year, the Southampton, England native was one of the only 16 coaches in the world selected to attend the prestigious Elite Coaching License (A license pro) which is the highest practical coaching award offered by EUFA.

As a player, White donned the youth team uniforms of Southampton City and Hampshire County and was considered to suit up for Southampton FC, an English football team nicknamed the Saints and plays in the Football League Championship. However, White ended up playing for Bognor Regis Town FC, which was then coached by local legend Jack Pearce in the GM Vauxhual Conference.

From England, White moved to Australia in 1994 and played for the Freemantle City Soccer Club in the Australian Professional Soccer League. In the Land Down Under, White set up his own soccer academy and also started coaching. He stayed in Australia until September 1999 when he accepted the coaching post with the Bahamas.

Now, the 10-year FIFA coach is the technical director for the Washington Youth Soccer, which has 135,000 players and 25,000 coaches on its list. He is also a member of the U.S. soccer national coaching staff and players developmental task force.