Coaching the coaches

To be a winner as a coach is the major theme of UEFA’s latest course for the technical experts who are responsible for training coaches to produce top-standard footballers.

Technical sector
At the 15th UEFA Course for Coach Educators, which takes place in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, between 30 May and 3 June, prominent personalities from the world of coaching and football's technical sector will gather for an event which has become an established part of UEFA’s portfolio.

Vital area
At such conferences, coach educators meet to exchange views and ideas about what is considered as a vital area of UEFA's work. European football's governing body and its football development division, led by UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh, feel it is crucial that football coaches are given the highest quality of education, to enable them to subsequently give football players high-quality coaching – and thereby increasing the game's overall standards throughout Europe.

Facets of winning
“It is essential that coach education should deal with the different aspects of winning,” says UEFA President Lennart Johansson and Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson in their message to the conference. “As far as possible, budding coaches must think about the various facets of winning: motivation, tactics, team building, etc.

Using the ideas
“The participants from all 52 UEFA member associations will be able to take home with them ideas that they can incorporate into their own teaching programmes," he added. "These will be included in some high-quality contributions from the course presenters.”

Guest speakers
The conference features theoretical and practical sessions, and guest speakers can boast a wealth of coaching experience. They include Roxburgh himself, the former Liverpool FC and France coach Gérard Houllier, Dutch FA (KNVB) coaches Wim Koevermans, Ronald Spelbos and Bert van Lingen, and Frans Hoek, a specialist goalkeeper coach for AFC Ajax and FC Barcelona.

Dutch team
Delegates will also watch the Dutch national team in training as they prepare for their FIFA World Cup qualifying matches at home to Romania on 4 June and in Finland on 8 June.

Tribute to Michels
The conference will also serve as a fitting tribute to Rinus Michels, the influential Dutchman revered by his coaching colleagues and the inventor of the brilliant Dutch “total football” system of the early 1970s, who passed away recently. “Rinus, a man with a fantastic coaching personality and a winning mentality, has left the football stage,” said Messrs Johansson and Olsson. “He made a wonderful contribution to many aspects of the game and was an inspiration to his coaching colleagues.”

Great innovator
"We called Rinus 'the guru'," said Roxburgh. "It was an affectionate term we had. Few coaches could match his achievements. He invented one of the most advanced tactical methods we've ever seen." The conference in Noordwijk will take time to pay homage to one of the game’s great innovators.