| Fadhil Yunus |
THE National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) has been credited for their “good start” in laying the groundwork for developing football in the country following the establishment of the NFABD Under-16 Youth League which is supported by FIFA.
After being confirmed as the winner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Grassroots Award for Aspiring Member Association, Brunei received further boost to be selected as one of only two Asian countries other than Guam to lead the Under-16 Youth League.
“You create uproar that’s more football is being played. Kids will like to be more involved. You get parents motivating their own children,” said Lim Kim Chon, FIFA Technical Development Officer in an interview at the side-lines of a NFABD Under-16 Youth League fixture.
As an extension of elevating the state of football in the country, it is possible to create a batch of young people involved in officiating matches as referees or match officials.
“You can educate secondary schoolboys to be referees and sooner or later you will have a batch of young referees. It is not only from the playing side but also the officiating side,” he added.
“People will also look at the club’s administration, how administrators plan the team and after that the club.
Lim also added that NFABD can set the blueprint in putting out the ingredients to form a successful league with the possibility of other member associations re-enacting their success.
Lim Kim Chon, FIFA Technical Development Officer
“FIFA is looking for someone to be a model. If you start well, others will follow. Others will like to know what makes the league successful.”
The inaugural Youth League will set the tone for the direction of the players but continuity must persists as according to Lim a player could lag behind if they do not prolong their development over the long run.
“When you do not keep in touch you lose out. You can still play but you lose out. The insight and skill will be with you but it will not be as smooth as expected of you,” he said.
The completeness of an exemplary coach has also been highlighted to ensure that the boys fulfil their potential and harnesses the basic knowledge of the game in addition to their playing ability.
There is still considerable work to be undertaken in the Youth League especially the technical aspect of coaching from coaches in monitoring the development of the boys and grasping the knowledge of the boys playing the game whether it is a tactical or technical component.
“Training itself is do they have the ability to understand how the game is being played. When it is a league it is not just one loss in two matches, it goes on until November.”
Any coach needs to be conscientious on how a player could sustain their match fitness over a certain period of time.
He said that each coach must be prepared on understanding what should be done in order for the players to adapt playing especially under extreme heat.
“When they are playing, can they maintain their own fitness? As the game progress until the following months, are the coaches still continue with the training?”
Lim added that coaches must also put into practice and apply what they’ve learnt in courses and it is encouraged that they understand the basic tactics.
“FIFA is also coming in with coaching courses. In August, there will be a referee’s course for the referees and the coaching course for the coaches.
“FIFA is supporting in any aspect of football new developments in the domestic football league. They are coming in strong for countries running the youth league,” he continued.
“The domestic youth league is an initiative by FIFA to help the developing countries to be more organised and to give the youth more chance of having more matches.
“The league itself is not short term. The success of players to become top players does not happen overnight. It is a long process.”
With the league only been formed and has been fairly new, the players who performed in the couple of matches is still considered “raw” and require a lot of technical training which the coach is tasked with.
“It is the knowledge of the coaches to recognise and how they are going to put it into the training session to improve the kids. The coach must have time to train them daily. You need to work on basic techniques every day.”
The official further highlighted that time is of the essence for spotting talent adding that one must keep on keeping tabs of his progress in every match and find out if there is consistency.
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