German football expert to hold workshop here

All Cebuano football coaches and players aged 13 and below are invited to a three-day workshop hosted by the Cebu Football Association (CFA) which will start today.

The workshop will be handled by German football expert Eckhard Krautzun at the Sarrosa International Hotel and Residential Suites.

The event is in line with a Grassroots Program Assessment conducted by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) in coordination with the German Olympic Committee and the German Football Association.

Krautzun arrived in Manila last week and will be staying in the country until late next month. He will be traveling around the country to visit various provinces as part of his evaluation of the current status and program of grassroots football in the Philippines.

The objective of the PFF in conducting this activity is to develop more local talents to reinforce the national youth teams and eventually the Philippine National Senior Men’s Football Team.

Today’s main activity includes the discussion of several topics such as scope of duties of a youth coach in relation to modern football, training of kids and youth players (9-12 years old) and grassroots and youth training in various age groups.

Half of this afternoon’s session will also be used for practical exercises with the coaches and junior team players at the Aboitiz Sportsfield in Subangdaku, Mandaue City.

Tomorrow, an hour will be spent in discussing talent scouting or player identification. Players will also be identified for the football festival that will follow thereafter at the Aboitiz Sportsfield. Players identified will then be known as “Elite” players.

After lunch, the coaches will return to Sarrosa to discuss organization and planning of a training session to be followed by the presentation of the DFB (German football association) program.

Krautzun will then inspect and practice with the Little Azkals (Philippine U13 Team) and have an extra session of practice with the Elite players.

The training for both teams will continue on the morning of the final day of the workshop on Thursday.

Krautzun will cap the three-day workshop with a summing up and a discussion of the festival assessment. He will then leave for Davao for their own workshop there.