In this article, I’d like to summarize the process of taking the FIVB Coach Courses, Level 1 and Level 2, as well as my impressions of the courses.
FIVB Coaches Course Level 1
After moving my base of living to Hokkaido, I had to rush through a lot of different procedures to enroll in the FIVB Coach Course. I struggled with unfamiliar tasks like adjusting my schedule, preparing application documents, and securing transportation, but with the support of many people, I was finally able to confirm my participation in the course to be held in Bahrain. The course dates were from September 8th to 12th, 2018, over five days. I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I’m all set to take the course,’ and breathed a sigh of relief.
Invitation to Participants
However, we really never know what will be happened in our life. Early in the morning of September 6th—the day my flight was scheduled—the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake struck.
My flight was canceled due to the earthquake, and although I tried to arrange an alternative, I unfortunately couldn’t find a flight that would get me to the course on time. I was extremely disappointed by a situation that was completely out of my hands, but I quickly changed gears and looked into whether I could take the course in another country.
Thanks to the support of many people around me, I was ultimately able to take the course in the Philippines. I’m still incredibly grateful to the Philippine Volleyball Federation for accepting my application on such short notice and with so little time before the start date.
So, from October 1st to 5th, 2018, I participated in the FIVB Coaches Course Level 1 in Manila.
There were 47 participants in total, including myself. I had expected a diverse group of people from all over the world since it was an international course, but everyone except for me was from the Philippines (with one coach from the United States). In this overwhelmingly unfamiliar environment, my first-ever coaching course began entirely in English.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but apparently, Level 1 and 2 courses are sometimes held specifically to target coaches in the host country.
The FIVB instructor was Mr. Moro from Serbia. He was a very well-traveled person with a wealth of international experience. Towards the end of the course, I even discovered that one of his friends was an acquaintance of mine, which made me feel strongly that while the world is vast, the world of volleyball is a small and connected one.
The content of the Level 1
The content of the Level 1 course was focused on learning the fundamentals of volleyball. The course was divided into two parts: classroom lectures and on-court practical sessions. On the final day, we took a quiz-style written exam and a practical test (serving to a specific target and feeding balls), both of which I passed successfully.
For the written exam, the challenge for me wasn’t so much the difficulty of the questions, but whether I could understand them in English, but I managed to do well. The practical test was also not a major concern for me, as I had already experienced a similar test during my JSPO coach training. I was confident because the content was very similar. I feel that Japanese coaches, in general, have a high level of ball control skills, even from a global perspective.
What I thought via the Level 1
The strongest impression I got from taking the Level 1 course was how important it is to learn as much as possible not only from the instructor but also from the other coaches participating. It was my first time having an in-depth conversation with international volleyball coaches.
The opportunity to have serious discussions about topics like the differences from Japan’s youth development system and the challenges facing the volleyball world was truly invaluable to me. Spending several days with foreign coaches and communicating almost entirely in English, which I rarely get to use in Japan, also gave me a huge boost in confidence. The joy of being able to discuss volleyball, not just simple communication, was a huge benefit that helped accelerate my actions afterward.
However, I also felt a lot of frustration because I couldn’t understand 100% of what the instructor and other participants were saying.
FIVB Coaches Course Level 2
The experience from Level 1 was a significant step forward in my career as a coach and gave me the courage to pursue the next level.
I proceeded with the application for the Level 2 course, which “should have” taken place in Croatia from August 18th to 22nd, 2020.
However, just as before, the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread, blocking my path once again. As a result, I received a notification from the Croatian federation that the course had been canceled due to the pandemic.
At that point, I genuinely started to wonder if some unseen force was trying to stop me, but I quickly pivoted. I consulted with various people and did some research to see if there was another country holding a course or another way to take it, and that’s when I found out that Thailand was going to host the course completely online.
So, it was decided that I would take a fully online course (using Zoom) from November 16th to 20th, 2020, for five days.
While I can’t be certain, I believe this might have been the first-ever fully online coaches course in FIVB history.
The instructor was Shailen Ramdoo from Finland. Perhaps because the course was held completely online, it had a very international feel, with participants from various Asian countries besides Thailand, as well as Europe.
The content of the Level 2
Since it was an online course, I felt like we were given a very large number of assignments during the course period. In fact, I completely shut myself in my study during the course. As soon as the day’s session was over, I would immediately start on the assignments, go to bed once I finished, and then get back to the course the next day. It was a very tough five days for me.
As part of the assignments, we were required to go to a gymnasium, practice a specified training drill, and perform a practical test, all of which we had to film on video and submit. The COVID situation was very serious at the time, so I remember having an extremely difficult time securing a gym and finding players to cooperate with the drills. I am still full of gratitude to everyone who helped me out—thank you so much. One of the other participants had to travel several hours to a gym from their home to complete these assignments, which made me realize that everyone was doing their best despite their very difficult circumstances.
Just like with Level 1, the course was evaluated based on a quiz-style online test and the video submissions of our training drills and practical tests. During the course, we had opportunities to share the videos of our training drills and discuss areas for improvement as a group, so I feel that I was able to learn a lot even though it was an online format.
What I thought via the Level 2
Regarding the completely online aspect, I was very worried about English communication. In Level 1, it was relatively easy to ask others for help or confirmation once we had built a rapport, but in a fully online environment where I knew no one, it was honestly difficult, and I felt anxious the whole time. Taking this course made me realize how challenging it is to build new relationships in a virtual world where you’ve never met a single person.
Unfortunately, I was not able to build deep relationships that could continue after the course, but I definitely felt like I gained new knowledge by completing the many assignments. It was also a great experience for me to realize that it is possible to learn a lot even in an online format.
