Dhaka, May 16: A 6-day goalkeeping course for coaches ended on Monday with the participants confident about improved coaching practice for goalkeepers in Bangladesh.

The Level 1 AFC Goalkeeping Coaching Certificate Course was conducted by the AFC’s Elite Instructor Dean May introducing Bangladeshi coaches to the latest goalkeeping practices in the global game.

Also the national goalkeeper development manager for the Football Federation Australia (FFA), Dean May started the specialized 60-hour coaches’ course on May 10 as part of BFF’s strategic development plan that commits to improved coach education.

The course featured both theory and practical content under AFC guidelines specifically designed to train the goalkeeper coaches to teach basic techniques, plan effective training sessions and understand the role of the goalkeeper coach within the technical department.

Coaches, who had taken the seats as students themselves during the course, are looking forward to the BFF’s goalkeeping coach development scheme.

One of the participants, Mahaboob Alam Paulo, a BFF coach specialised in grassroots development, says the coaches are now aware of the mistakes in training sessions. “We have long been conceding easy goals. Goalkeepers miss the basics in many cases and this course has made us look at the training sessions with a new perspective.”

Paulo had guided the Bangladesh U14 National Team in the Malaysian Super Mokh Cup 2016 and supervised beginner level teams in the recently concluded Bangabandhu and Bangamata Gold Cup tournaments. He hopes to take his newly acquired skills and apply them at the elementary level, highlighting that youngsters in Bangladesh do not get the right training from the beginning.

BKSP’s football coach Hasan Al Masud, who acts as the goalkeeping watchdog in the organisation, has also shed light on the benefits of this certified course. “The course has emphasized on game oriented practices that will prepare the players for the real deal.”

Masud himself played in the national U16 and U20 pool back in the day, and later got a football diploma from Leipzig University in Germany. He has even completed AFC and International Olympic Association (IOA) courses in Malaysia and Greece. Masud hopes to take his knowledge from the latest course to the youngsters and wants to boost the number of rightly trained goalkeepers in the local arena.

The level 1 certificate course is the first step of specialised goalkeeping coaching courses available through the AFC. This time, 17 coaches from different clubs and BFF took part.

Among other participants, BFF coaches Mahaboob Hossain Roksy and Jahan-e-Alam Nury, who have passed the latest AFC course, echo the others about the course led by highly skilled teachers. They say it has enlightened them about the basics of goalkeeping.

Roksy said he used to play as a midfielder back in his. But now, as a coach he has to coordinate with other coaches to guide the players. “I had basic knowledge from before, but this course has made me realise everything from a goalkeeper’s view, which will definitely help me organise better as a coach,” says Roksy, who is highly enthusiastic about BFF’s strategic development plans focusing on goalkeepers.

Nury on the other hand, believes he can take the valuable knowledge over to other trainers and coaches. “We have learned a lot, starting from the hand positions of goalkeepers and even the movement required during opponent’s passing. These are crucial knowledge and I hope I can pass it on.”

The BFF plans to conduct the more advanced AFC level 2 and 3 goalkeeping coaches’ course in Bangladesh as well, and with that in mind, the federation will host more level 1 courses to raise the number of certified coaches eligible for the next level.