Serve as a coach

“Hi, Coach!” Even a year after the last soccer season ended, kids still greet me with these words. I’ll have to admit, it feels pretty cool to be remembered as “Coach.” Like many parents who find themselves doing things they never imagined, I became a coach because of my kids. It was a great experience. Coaching was a chance to teach sportsmanship and to help kids become part of a team (or in the case of the younger kids I coached, to at least become part of a swarm!) The parents were very appreciative. I got to blow a little whistle and wear a shirt with the word “COACH” emblazoned on the back. Having played only a little soccer, I hardly remembered the rules, and most of us had no experience coaching, and no training at all.

Well, soccer in the CNMI is taking a leap forward. The newly formed Northern Marianas Football Association (NMFA) is planning a kid’s soccer league that will start in September. And right now, NMFA invites you to serve as a coach or a referee. You don’t need to have any experience or training. But don’t be daunted. NMFA is in the process of setting up a short training program.

With the help of the Guam Football Association, NMFA is planning coaches and referee training sessions that will take place this summer. Coaching is not a huge commitment. The training sessions are short. Even when the season begins, coaching doesn’t take much time. Last season we had practices once a week in the evenings, and games were held once a week on Saturdays. The training only takes a few hours—typically five hours for certification to coach the 4-8 year-old level, 10 hours for the 8-12 year-old level, and 20 hours for the 12-16 year-old age group. NMFA expects that trainers from Guam will be able to come to Saipan and certify our coaches and referees. Soccer is Guam’s biggest sport, surpassing even baseball, with some 2,000 league participants.

As a first step, NMFA is inviting anyone who is interested in coaching or serving as a referee to come to an informational meeting on Tuesday, May 17 at 5:30pm at the Dai Ichi Hotel’s Azucena room.

NMFA hopes to eventually become affiliated with FIFA, the international football federation. To get an idea of where this may lead, we can look to Guam, since they have enjoyed the benefits of FIFA affiliation for several years. Every two years the Guam Football Association puts together a national team with various age groups that compete in FIFA tournaments in East Asia. Certified referees from Guam have served as referees for the international tournaments. FIFA provides significant funding to help pay for full-time coaches and trainers for the Guam program, as well as travel and general support.

We don’t yet have the type of program to field a national team, but international play, travel, FIFA affiliation and accomplished players are all in the future for us in the CNMI. That future begins on Tuesday evening. Come learn about serving as a coach or referee for NMFA’s new youth soccer league. Interested moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers, family members, or just people who want to contribute to the community as a coach or referee are invited to attend the meeting. Coaching can be tremendously rewarding. Long into the future, kids will still come up to you and say, “Hi Coach…and thanks!”

(David Khorram, MD is a board certified ophthalmologist, and director of Marianas Eye Institute. Questions and comments are welcome. Call 235-9090 or email eye@vzpacifica.net. Copyright © 2005 David Khorram.)