Photo Credit: OFC Media via Tonga FA
Coaches from across Oceania celebrated the successful completion of the first-ever Coach Educator Course held at the Tonga Football Association (TFA).
The course, a collaborative effort between Tonga and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), aimed to bolster the capacity of Member Associations (MA) to deliver top-tier learning experiences for coaches.
The four-day program, blending theory with hands-on activities linked to OFC Certificate Courses, had 11 coaches representing six MAs participate. With a focus on elevating the quantity and calibre of Coach Educators, OFC anticipates a twofold benefit: an upsurge in the number of coaches and an elevated standard of coaching across the region.
Coach Educators Andy Hedge and Margaret Aka facilitated the course in collaboration with OFC High Performance and Education team members, Tracy Cunnington and Owain Prosser. Prosser expressed his delight at the dedication and hard work exhibited by the coaches throughout the week.
“We have a committed, enthusiastic group this week who have applied themselves excellently. The challenge for them now is to put learnings into practice by gaining further experience of delivering coaching courses back in their home country,” remarked Prosser.
“Hopefully, if we have better coach educators, we have better coaches, so therefore we have better players.”
TFA Technical Director Kilifi Uele highlighted the importance of gender diversity, with six out of the 11 coach educators being women, including Tonga’s own Mausia Patolo.
“With her attending as a member of our technical departments now she can run coaching courses for not only our national coaches but for club coaches and also the coaches that wish to join the course. Because at the end of the day with that being completed we’ll be able to have better coaches and therefore we’ll have better players for our national teams,” explained Uele.
This aligns seamlessly with OFC’s Women’s Football Strategy – ALL IN, emphasising the strides being taken to help increase the quality of female coaches and educators in the Oecania region.
Armed with their newfound expertise, these qualified coaches will now be able to educate and develop coaches back in their MAs, while motivating and inspiring the next generation within their regions.