AFC Coach Education Panel Meeting: Highlights and Insights

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Image credit: Shutterstock - Dziurek

The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) latest AFC Coach Education Panel Meeting reflected the Confederation’s desire to continually strengthen each Member Association (MA).

The meeting was led by AFC Technical Director Andy Roxburgh and took place virtually Thursday last week, featuring technical and coaching experts from across Asia.

With the key focus on finding how to strengthen coaching to boost player development, the meeting saw a range of matters discussed such as the AFC Coaching Convention, the AFC-UEFA Diploma equivalence, and the progress of tutor courses.

Most notably, the panel witnessed an extensive presentation on the pioneering Triple A Project, an all-new AFC programme designed to elevate technical standards and player development across the Confederation.

The name Triple A comes from the founding principles the initiative was built from of Analysis, Advice, Accreditation. To achieve its goals, the Triple A Project will engage with MAs to establish technical summits to effectively deliver unique supports according to each member’s needs.

Roxburgh explained how the Triple A Project would be beneficial for MAs.

“The idea is to hold joint exchanges with MAs, allowing us to analyse global developments and enable the Confederation to provide tailored support, offer advice, and establish guidelines,” he said in a press release.

“This will facilitate greater information exchange and drive further enhancements in technical projects, activities, and initiatives.”

Panellists next reviewed reports of The Hub initiative, a programme in collaboration with the Japan Football Association (JFA) designed to create opportunities for female coaches to gain their AFC Pro-Diploma status.

Panel members were then made aware of the latest endorsements under the AFC Coaching Convention, as well as future events like the upcoming AFC Coach Education Conference 2025.

To finalise the meeting, participants undertook an active QandA session, sharing key insights and learnings while also questioning standard practices to help the Asian Football Confederation and its Member Associations reach their true potential.

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Off the Pitch Podcast: The art of meditation in sports with Chris Shen

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Image Credit: Christopher Shen Consulting

On Episode 14 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, sports psychologist and martial arts master Chris Shen explored the topics of mental health in athletes, his long martial arts journey and the psychology behind returning from injuries or a mistake in a particular match.

In the fun but detailed discussion, meditation before a game was one of the many topics that Shen explored, with a focus on its effectiveness and the best time to do it.

“I absolutely love this practice. I recognise that everybody is different, so not all athletes or sports people will enjoy the same particular mental habit,” he said.

“Regardless of the actual sport, when I’m working with a team in a competition, I will run a group mindfulness session in the pregame for 5 to 6 minutes.

“I always prefer athletes doing it pregame before any coaches address or individual preparation.”

Shen expanded on the importance of staying calm and in control before playing a sport.

“Mindfulness is just an attention oriented form of meditation based on centuries old practices that enables people to interrupt the chaos of the real world. Also enables them to calm themselves, focus, and then be able to prepare and listen to the coaches and so forth.” he said.

“Any way of creating calm and relaxation, which enables you to focus, can be very powerful.”

Sports psychology plays a crucial role in football, particularly at the semi-professional and professional levels, where the mental side of the game can often determine performance.

Understanding how athletes think, focus, and recover mentally is just as important as physical preparation in achieving success on the pitch.

Click hear the full interview with Chris Shen, on Episode 14 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting platforms.

Preston Lions FC Promote Sponsor Branding Space

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Image Credit: Preston Lions FC

Preston Lions Football Club have begun advertising available branding space for new, interested corporate sponsors during the Australian Championship season.

The club is encouraging companies to become new club sponsors by incentivising branding exposure when Australian Championship matches are played on Preston grounds, with three days until the season starts.

The exclusive opportunities being promoted include media wall TV exposure, Top of Pavillion signage, signage on the Hill Marquees, Pavillion Bar Naming Rights, and flag signage behind the goal.

Quoted in the post, the club stated SBS Sport has 1.6 million followers on their socials in addition to the 12.4 million registered users for SBS On Demand.

Besides branding on kits, corporate promotions for club members and fans, and other engagement, sponsor advertising shown on television provides free promotion of the business to a larger audience.

However, comparing the local and Victoria-wide businesses as well as the Hon. Nathan Lambert MP, the exact amount of publicity and further new and returning customers varies.

Furthermore, already existing sponsors who do not have their branding viable to the cameras will miss out on the coverage.

Preston Lions FC are also advertising for any interested sponsors to aid the club for the next season.

The club will be playing against NWS Spirit at Genis Steel Stadium on the 11th of October, in the first match of the Australian Championship.

SBS is the Home for the Australian Championship

Last month, Australian Championship and the Special Broadcasting Service announced their partnership to broadcast all Australian Championship season matches for two years, which brings free-to-air sports programs back on Australian television.

SBS Sport Director, Ken Shipp promoted SBS’ identity which aligns with football.

“As the spiritual home of football in Australia, SBS is the natural home for the Australian Championship, an aspirational competition that will create a pathway for many of Australia’s brightest young players from the sport’s grassroots to the highest-level competition in the land, the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s competition,” he said via press release.

“SBS’s football offering now includes compelling competitions at every level and for every fan – including, of course, the FIFA World Cup 2026.”

The news of the Australian Championship and SBS deal has given anti-siphoning law voices another reason why sports should be available for all to watch.

In June this year, research published by Free TV Australia stated 67 per cent of Australians support protecting free-to-air sports broadcasting.

Free TV CEO, Bridget Fair stated the research showed most Australians are watching TV through the internet and will only increase as more people are ditching their aerials, as well as new homes aren’t built with them anymore.

“New anti-siphoning laws must be updated to reflect this reality otherwise millions will be forced to buy expensive streaming subscriptions during a cost of living crisis or miss out altogether on the great sporting events that bind our nation together,” she said via press release.

Anti-siphoning laws regulates media companies’ access to significant sporting events, including how much of a sport’s season must be shown on free-to-air channels.

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