The current national goal keeping coach Marcus Pacheco and the national assistant coach Savio Medeira are on a unique assignment. The two indispensable cogwheels of Indian football are in the city to oversee AFC’s (Asian Football Confederation) C-Level coaching certificate course organised for the coaches of Kerala Football Association.
The C-level certificate is mandatory for training soccer players in the grassroots-level and the mainstay of the programme is that this time around, the syllabus made for the course is completely match related.
“We are for the first time giving real match related practise to the coaches and our syllabus has been altered to include these changes,” said Marcus Pacheco.
The thought of a syllabus-revision came to the fore after Robert Baan took the helm of the technical director of All-India Football Federation (AIFF). Since then match related practical lessons were incorporated into the syllabus. The key aspects such as technic, decision making, fitness and mentality have formed the core of the course lessons.
“The training sessions are divided into four segments and they are based on four vital aspects: Technical, decision making, fitness and mentality. The course content has been changed by Baan to rope in modern training manuals and trends evolved in the soccer fields. This was done after obtaining prior permission from AFC,” Pacheco said.
Currently 20 coaches are undergoing the 12-day course which started at SAI - LNCPE, Kariavattom, on December 6.
The course comprises three practicals and two theory tests. So far two practicals have been completed and the third and the final one will be held on December 16 and 17.