The ever-growing reputation and quality of the New Zealand Football Coach Education Pathway has been further underlined by the intake on the current OFC / NZF A-Licence, which has attracted candidates from several other parts of the world as well as the country’s brightest domestic-based coaches.

Part One of the latest A-Licence was held in Auckland this month and featured 18 participants, including former All White Fred de Jong, New Zealand Football Head of Performance Analysis Gary Connell, Future Ferns Development Programme (FFDP) coach Gemma Lewis, Southern United women’s coach Terry Parle and multiple Women’s Knockout Cup winner Andy Clay. But those familiar local names were joined by those from further afield as candidates jetted in from the likes of Asia, the Caribbean and Europe.

Choosing to take the next steps in their coaching career on these shores were the Caribbean-based pair of Darren Meehan and Jack Brazil, Rego Sade from Estonia and Abdi Hassan, who is now based in Malaysia but enjoyed a lengthy career as a player in the Dutch Eredivisie before coaching at FC Twente.

New Zealand Football Coach Development Manager Steven Dillon says the attendance of the overseas-based candidates is a further seal of approval for the Coach Education Pathway as the national body continues in its quest to offer high-quality coach development experiences.

“Through the continued credibility that the courses now hold, and thanks to our ongoing partnership with the Oceania Football Confederation, we are now attracting global interest and have had many overseas coaches travel to New Zealand to continue their ongoing development in the last three years,” Dillon says.

“As well as the continued growth of the domestic-based coaching fraternity, our guests from overseas provide further diversity of ideas, experience and outlooks on how the game should be played and coached. Their commitment to stretch themselves in a new environment, as well as the logistical challenges of visiting New Zealand, is a further declaration of their desire to improve.”

Part One of the current OFC / NZF A-Licence was delivered by former New Zealand Football Technical Director Rob Sherman, with support from Dillon, Aaron McFarland and Korouch Monsef, and the high standard of the instructors was a key part of the appeal for the overseas candidates.

“A contributing factor was seeing a new environment and culture but, on top of that, knowing it’s a top, top level of coach educator in Rob Sherman and the team he has around him was the main selling point,” says Brazil, who is currently working in the Cayman Islands but has experience in Asia, North America and Europe.

“I spoke to several people who had been on the course and their openness about how positive an experience it was really led me to think this would be a really good step for me.”

Meehan, Technical Director for the Turks and Caicos Islands FA, was likewise attracted by the quality of education on offer.

“I had a few options to go on but I knew the A-Licence was happening in New Zealand and, once I did a bit of homework and knew who the instructors were, I knew the level would be excellent,” he says. “If you look at the input we’re getting from the instructors, you can’t gain valuable lessons like that anywhere else.”

The A-Licence is currently the highest coaching qualification on offer in this country and is part of New Zealand Football’s commitment to producing players and teams capable of making an impact on the global stage. Coach development has a key role to play with the mantra ‘Better Coaches, Better Players’ summing up this ethos.

“We are strenuously committed to helping coaches be better and, through all three cohorts of the OFC / NZF A-Licence to date, we have seen huge marked improvements in the standard of work produced and effectiveness as a coach. We believe this will have a significant impact on the domestic game here in New Zealand,” Dillon says.

2018 OFC / NZF A-Licence candidates: Mikey Halliday, Gemma Lewis, Tracy Wrigley, Kane Wintersgill, Shane Verma, Andy Clay, Jamie Whitmarsh, Simon Tyndel, Fred de Jong, Joseph Hall, Gary Connell, Terry Parle, Mick Curry, Matthew Kilsby, Darren Meehan (Turks and Caicos Islands), Jack Brazil (Cayman Islands), Rego Sade (Estonia), Abdi Hassan (Malaysia)

Coach Developer Staff: Rob Sherman, Steven Dillon, Aaron McFarland, Korouch Monsef