The Fiji Football Association (FFA) conducted their first four-day virtual workshop for women’s coaching capacity building this week.
While football activity remains on hold in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initiative was put together as an opportunity for coaches to upskill during lockdown.
The workshop was facilitated by Fiji National Women’s Head Coach Marika Rodu for twenty-five coaches from both tier one and two of the Digicel Women’s Super League.
The association also received support from the FIFA League Development Programme, OFC Head of High Performance and Education Owain Prosser and FIFA Technical Consultant for Oceania Tony Readings.
On day one, Fiji FA Executive Board Member Naziah Ali Krishna delivered Fiji’s women’s football strategic plan for 2021-2023, followed by Tony Readings who spoke on technical development tools.
Rodu said the women’s football strategic plan was an important aspect of the workshop.
“The main purpose of this workshop was to keep our coaches engaged with our vision and objectives for women’s football development,” he said.
“We know our last international match was at the 2019 Pacific Games, but we’ve managed to still achieve great things over the past two years including the launch of the Digicel Women’s Super League competition. From here we have to keep the momentum going.”
Day two and three saw OFC Instructors Alejo Leguizamon and Andy Hedge cover match analysis before Fiji FA Coach Educator Yogendra Dutt presented on talent identification.
Rodu said the experiences and knowledge shared by each guest speaker was valuable information for all.
“They were well qualified in the topics they shared with us,” he said.
“The highlight for me was the number of participants involved and the level of interaction each day brought.
“We enjoyed having attendees from FIFA, OFC and executive board members from Fiji FA.”
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