Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Kabul (BNA) Over the last week, 23 male and female Afghan football coaches from across Afghanistan undertook an intensive programme of training in grassroots football development and community coaching.
The course, which was run by experts from England’s Football Association, forms another part of the UK-Afghanistan Football Partnership announced by Prime Minister David Cameron last year. UK support for Afghan football is helping to develop every level of the Afghan game and making sure that the benefits of grassroots sport reach even more communities in Afghanistan. Speaking during one of the training sessions, Les Howie, Director of Grassroots Development at The FA, said:
“Football is a great way to bring people together. We have worked with a group of coaches who have a shared passion for football and we came together to share and develop knowledge that we hope will support the development of grassroots football in Afghanistan.
Our coaching colleagues from Afghanistan have been excellent ambassadors for their country and we hope they take the new skills developed and use them to good effect in their own communities. We look forward to working with our colleagues at the AFF and British Embassy in Kabul to build on this excellent start to our partnership.”
General Secretary of the Afghan Football Federation, Ali Aghazada, said: “We would like to thank The FA and the British Embassy in Kabul for their continued cooperation and support of the Afghanistan Football Federation.
Knowing that grassroots plays a major role in developing football activities among children; it can also encourage and give them hope for a better future.
We hope that the participants of the course can get the necessary experience and share it with the next generation of young Afghans.”
Afghan football coach, Ahmad Fahim Ahmadi, who completed the training, said:
“We learned a lot about football from this course. We did lots of practical exercises which helped us learn things and new techniques. And the way our coaches taught us was very effective.
This course was quite different from other courses we have taken in the past – it was excellent! We learned about different aspects and dimensions of football and the trainers were very friendly. They created an environment in which we could very easily learn new things.” And another participant, Hajar Abulfazil, said:
“We learned lots of new things from our trainers, which we can use effectively with our players back home.
We learned lots of instructive lessons and everything was taught theoretically and practically in detail. This added a lot to what we already knew about grassroots football. We are sure that what we learned from our instructors will help bring a considerable positive change in the structure of grassroots football in Afghanistan.”
Over the last two years Afghan football has proved itself to be a powerful force for good. The success of the Afghan Premier League and Afghan national football team has demonstrated the power of sport to bring people together and build bridges between communities. UK support is building on this success by uniting Britain’s world-leading football institutions with their Afghan counterparts to develop all levels of the Afghan game.
The 23 participants, 11 of which were women, represent different parts of the country and were selected based on their passion for grassroots sport.
The Football Association, also known simply as The FA, is the governing body of football in England. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in England.
The course, which took place at the Etisalat Academy in Dubai, was funded by The FA with support from the British Embassy Kabul.
You can find pictures of the training in the attached zipfile, which are free for media to use.
