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"UEFT International Symposium"

By Gordon Miller, State Technical Director
Virginia Youth Soccer Association

It was a pleasure and honor to recently attend the 23rd UEFT International Symposium, hosted by The Football Instructors Association (Amicale des Educateurs de Football), in Paris, France. The symposium was originally aimed at the education of European instructors but it has since mushroomed into a worldwide annual event. As a brief history, Mr. Gabriel Hanot created the Football Instructors Association in 1947. He wanted the association to be built on the following foundations:

To protect and honor the soccer coach
To raise the individual and collective knowledge in the technical, tactical, intellectual and physical components of the game
To gather for a better understanding of soccer and to maintain real links of friendship.

Over 200 Technical Directors, educators, trainers and a variety of elite level coaches from Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and North America took part in the 4-day event. The purpose of the annual gathering was to exchange ideas and compare training and coaching educational issues with other professionals responsible for their country's technical development. Since it was hosted in France, the focus of this particular symposium was on the French Football Federation's (FFF) ways and methods that have made them so successful.

After a brief welcome by a variety of dignitaries that included Mr. Claude Simonet (President of the FFF), the day's activities were underway. The presenters spoke on a variety of subjects related to soccer and used an extensive support system of PowerPoint presentations and videos.

Mr. Jacques Santini, Current Men's National Team Coach of France.

Mr. Santini spoke on the aspect of respect. He stated that all educators and coaches must have respect for their work, respect for the opponent, respect for the players, respect for the official and, above all, respect for the game itself.

Coaches must conduct themselves with humility, openness and a willingness to learn.
They have a moral obligation to develop the game and all that come in contact with it.
He emphasized that there must be a common determination and a common direction linking all facets of the game: administration, parents, coaches, players, politicians, referees and medical staff.
He also stressed that the coach should determine the technical direction of the team or program and that all other members must pull together in that same direction.

For the selection of his national staff coaches, Mr. Santini he didn't look as much at the capabilities of the coach as he did the characteristics of the person. He said the staff member's humility, work rate, compatibility, personality and gut feel all factored into the final decision about whether the applicant was included on his coaching staff.

In summation, many lessons were learned in the 23rd UEFT Coaches Symposium and quite a large amount of information was acquired from some of the world's best soccer educators. I found:

There was a common theme of respect for you as a person, for your work and for the country that you represented.
Every country present (43) had a full time technical director.
All of the educators spoke about humility and seeking coaches and players that exhibited that trait, as well as an openness and willingness to learn.
The coach was the most important person and the education of that coach is paramount to the ongoing development of the player.
We should always have a presence at these types of events for the purpose of staying on top of European soccer issues, networking with professionals, and sharing ideas.

FUNdamental Soccer would like to thank, Gordon Miller, State Technical Director Virginia Youth Soccer Association for allowing us to publish his report. This is the first part of his report and we plan on sharing the rest with you in future issues.

FUNdamental Reader if you have a report, event, etc. that you would like to share with our readership. Please send us the information for future publication!