Category Archives: Managerial

Innovation, Iwaki FC, Managerial

Iwaki FC owners aiming for the stars with new club

This article was published in the Japan Times on January 15th.
Dome Corporation president Shuichi Yasuda has the vision, Satoshi Okura the know-how and former Dutch international and Rangers player Pieter Huistra the experience. The goal now is to combine their respective talents as they embark on the task of building a professional soccer club from scratch.

Yasuda announced the creation of the new team, Iwaki FC, earlier this week at the Dome Kickoff party at Ariake Coliseum, and he has grand ambitions. He wants the club to become a pillar in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture (among the areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011), and ultimately, years, maybe decades down the line, help change Japan’s sporting landscape.

“We would like to energize Japan through sports,” Yasuda said Wednesday. “Well, actually, reform it. When you look at America and European countries such as Germany and Britain, they lead their societies with sports. We’ve looked closely at what they do and we’ve always wanted our society to do the same. We must do it. We’ve talked about this project over the past year and it has materialized.” Continue reading →

Managerial, Personal, Press

Head Coach IWAKI FC – Japan

I am happy to announce that I have joined Iwaki FC as head coach.
It is a once in a lifetime possibility to be part of such an ambitious project. Since I left Japan as a player 19 years ago it has been a dream to come back to this country to coach.
When I was approached to join the project I did not hesitate to commit. Iwaki FC is a new club supported by Dome Corp, the distributor of the Under Armour label.
It wants to establish itself as a role model club in Japan. Emphasis will be on development of young players. Iwaki FC will take international benchmark as its guide in this development.

At the moment the club has just started to recruit players for the first team and will start at amateur level in the Tohoku region.
The club has a 10 year plan to reach JLeague and build an academy at international level that delivers top level players.
I feel very fortunate to be part of this project that also gives joy to the people of Iwaki who are still in the redevelopment of their city after the tsunami disaster. It gives extra energy to build this club together for a great future.
domecorp-logo                   Under Armour
www.iwakifc.com with video impression of the Iwaki FC project
For information, please use the contactpage
Indonesia, Managerial, Personal

A goodbye to Indonesia

After exactly one year working in Indonesia I am back in the Netherlands. It has been an interesting, frustrating and learning experience. When I first came there was a lot of energy in the Football Association (PSSI) office. A lot of changes were made over the previous two years to develop football in this football crazy country.
The association brought in two foreigners, Mr. Sivaji and myself, to help develop the sport in Indonesia. Mr. Sivaji is an experienced coach and instructor who is a member of the AFC technical committee.

coach course

We concentrated on one of the most important pillars for improvement of football: coach education.  In a short period of time we set up a great program for coaches to get their AFC license in Indonesia. There had been a vacuum of 4 years in which the courses were not given or not recognized bij AFC. The new program provided 40 A-, B- and C-AFC courses and 36 National D-courses in 2015. The head coaches participated in the first courses. Many of them had previously followed the national courses which were not recognized bij AFC. Continue reading →

Indonesia, Managerial, Press

Interview FourFourTwo.com

Indonesian coach’s patience starting to wear thin

By John Duerden
The head coach of Indonesia is discovering that when your country is banned from international football, there really isn’t very much to do… This forced inaction could result in Pieter Huistra leaving a job he loves, or loved. The Dutchman accepted the role as the technical director of the Indonesian national team in December 2014 and then took over the coaching duties in May. Soon after, FIFA issued its suspension to the football-loving Southeast Asian nation due to government interference.
Almost five months on and there isn’t any sign of the situation changing soon. The senior national team had to withdraw from qualification for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, while the country’s clubs were booted out of the AFC Cup.

Continue reading →

Managerial

KNVB Voetbalsymposium 15 december

Met de moderne media is het tegenwoordig niet zo moeilijk om het nieuws uit de hele wereld te mee te krijgen. Daarom is het goed mogelijk om ook de Nederlandse discussie over de staat van ons voetbal nauwlettend te volgen. Ik ben, vanuit mijn bestuursfunctie van het CBV, nauw betrokken geweest bij de voorbereidingen op het symposium dat door de KNVB in Utrecht werd georganiseerd.

Het belangrijkste  vind ik dat er überhaupt zo’n bijeenkomst wordt georganiseerd. Nog belangrijker dan de inhoud is het feit dat vele vakmensen de moeite nemen om bij elkaar te komen om over het Nederlandse voetbal te discussiëren. Ik kan u verzekeren dat dit uniek is. In vele buitenlanden kijkt men hier met jaloezie naar. Continue reading →

Managerial, Opinion

VVON/CBV Coachesdag Zwolle

Het trainerscongres georganiseerd door VVON en CBV was ook dit jaar een succes. Door de grote opkomst van vele trainers uit binnen- en buitenland was het vele werk van de organisatie dit jaar weer de moeite waard. Ik vond het mooi om te zien hoe we in Nederland met zo veel voetbalspecialisten zo’n mooi evenement neer kunnen zetten. Ik heb gemerkt dat onze buitenlandse gasten met lichte verwondering en gezonde jaloezie hebben geconstateerd dat voetbal in ons land leeft.
Ik denk dat het trainerscongres de kracht laat zien van ons voetbal. Het symboliseert de openheid in het delen van kennis. Elkaar laten zien hoe er gedacht en getraind wordt zonder bang te zijn om eventuele geheimen prijs te geven. Elkaar inspireren en erover discussiëren. Continue reading →