The 4-day OFC/NZF C Licence (Futsal) coach education course was held in Wellington last week at the ASB Sports Centre Kilbirnie. 23 candidates attended the course from across Oceania. Many of whom travelled from within New Zealand to capitalise on what is the highest Futsal qualification in Oceania. We were also lucky enough to have Mira Sahiv who travelled from Fiji, Mira is heavily involved in Futsal Development across the Fijian nation.  

The course was led by Steven Dillion (NZF Coach Development Manager), Josh Margetts (Futsal Development Manager), Nic Downes (Auckland Football Development Manager and Futsal Ferns Coach), and Paul Toohey (OFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Development Officer). The course featured a range of theory and practical components in order to prepare this next cohort of advanced coaches for the next step in their coaching journey. Josh Margetts highlights this:

“The recent OFC / NZF C License: Futsal coaching course is yet another major milestone for the coaching community in New Zealand. With the rapid growth of futsal participation in New Zealand there is more need than ever for a strong coach development system to support this. These 23 coaches have shown their commitment and passion for the game throughout this course and it is encouraging to hear about how they will now implement this knowledge back into their own environments. Capital Football have been influential in making this coaching course a success. Todd Bryant in particular has been outstanding in the preparation and delivery of operational activity throughout the week.”

We were very fortunate to have OFC’s support throughout the course, Paul Toohey was influential across the 4-days:  

“With the huge growth in futsal in New Zealand, it is vital there is a supply of qualified coaches to meet the demand, and the OFC/NZF Futsal C Licence course is a significant step in that direction.”

“The course has been excellent. The challenge now for everyone is to further develop their futsal knowledge and to put their new skills to work on a weekly basis.”

“It is particularly good to see so many enthusiastic young coaches from the men’s and women’s national Futsal leagues, because as we know, playing experience can be an important component in a coach’s tool kit. For sure these talented young coaches will make a huge impact on the new generation of players coming through.”

The candidates were invited to attend the Capital Men’s Futsal National League training session where coach Callum Holmes put on a model session for the participants. Callum offered a Q&A following this where he spoke about his Futsal coaching journey.  

This course is one of the many events that featured over the week as the Futsal season came to a close in the Capital. Local Futsal competition finals were on show, the Men’s Futsal National League finals, and a Futsal Ferns training camp. Todd Bryant, Capital Football Futsal Development Officer, highlights this busy but important time of the year for Futsal in Wellington:

“Futsal is in a healthy place here in Wellington, we continue to grow and develop all areas of the game. Hosting the course this week has been a great opportunity for not only our local coaches to develop but also an opportunity to showcase to those who have travelled what we are achieving in our community”

Capital Football is excited to continue to work closely with New Zealand Football and OFC to keep developing the game not only in Wellington but also across New Zealand.

If you would like to get involved in Futsal coach education, please contact your local Futsal Development team or Futsal Development Manager Josh Margetts at New Zealand Football – Josh.Margetts@nzfootball.co.nz.

Article added: Wednesday 12 December 2018