Zapanta joins ranks of licensed coaches

The CNMI’s pool of licensed coaches continues to grow as one more completed the AFC “C” License Coaching Course held in Guam.

Raymond Zapanta attended the course that took place from Nov. 26 to Dec. 11 and was one of only 13 participants out of the original 24 who made the grade in the over 80-hour seminar. The course was held at the Guam Football Association National Training Center with AFC Instructor Richard Sinapan of Malaysia and AFC Assistant Instructor Dominic Gadia of GFA conducting the theoretical and practical coaching sessions of the event.

“The course is designed to educate coaches how to organize, direct, and conduct basic coaching practice and is targeted mainly to develop the fundamental techniques, skills, and understanding of young players,” Zapanta said. “Each student will be examined in his/her practical coaching ability and knowledge and understanding of the laws of the game and its theory content,” said Zapanta, who received the good news (passing the course) early this month.

With Zapanta getting his C license, the CNMI’s pool now has 17 individuals. Patricia Coleman and Steve McKagan were the first ones to earn a C license in coaching after completing a Japan Football Association-sponsored course in 2010. Also on the select list are Raymond’s brother Ruselle, Jershwin Angeles, Mae Ito, Lalaine Pagarao, Jov Chavez, Jonathan Jones Takano, Aliilua Peteru, Ryu Tanzawa, Rodwealth Espana, Longwen Ji, Jeralyn Castillo, Mikky Vargas, Marrielle Gariguez, and Elizabeth Bona Phan.

The following coaches have been working with their respective clubs and their youth teams with Raymond affiliated with Kanoa Football Club. He is thankful for the opportunity to further hone his coaching skills.

“Understanding the ‘three main moments in football’ and ‘principles of play’ are the topics that really caught my attention because our instructor covered them in more detail. I have been coaching for a few years, but I have never had in depth knowledge on how to apply these principles into my training sessions,” Raymond said. “I always thought I did not have enough knowledge to be coaching the older competitive teams because I never played in the national team and the game has been constantly evolving. I had players that knew more than me because they are training with the national team and competing abroad. With this experience (course), I have been able to plan and conduct better training sessions and explain in detail the objectives of each session. The only way to build better and more competitive players and teams is to get coaches licensed or certified,” he added.

Meanwhile, Northern Mariana Islands Football Association technical director Michiteru Mita welcomes Raymond to the pool and hopes more will join the ranks. “Coaches have a significant impact on players and their development. To further develop CNMI players and their potential, we must also further develop and improve the skills of coaches. Currently, there are 17 C-licensed coaches and we would like to increase this to 45 to 50,” Mita said.

Photo courtesy of Guam Football Association

Published by Saipan Tribune - Feb 28 2018