Name: Sheetal Anant Hedulkar Designation: Monitoring officer Timeline of training: 3/08/2012 to 15/08/2012 Training experience: I just got back from Amsterdam and I had an amazing experience. Having never left India before, it was fascinating for me to visit another culture and have the chance to play football with people from across the globe. I went to Amsterdam to take part in the KNVB training course. In English, KNVB stands for the Royal Netherlands Football Association and every year they host a 10-day football training course where they teach advanced football skills. Football coaches from all over the world attend, including international club players. Each year, Magic Bus is invited to send an employee to participate in the course free of cost. Taking part in the course was exciting but hectic. We trained for long hours each day through practical and theoretical sessions. As a group we planned training sessions and created game plans. It was useful to exchange ideas and knowledge with players from many different countries. Some of the most important learning objectives for me were:
Age based training Basic rules for teambuilding System of play & formations Goal keeping training How to the develop team attack & defense tactics How to analyze matches & how to plan sessions
While we were at the course we had the opportunity to attend some practice sessions of AJAX and PSV, two of the top football teams in the Netherlands. The aim of these visits was to analyze the match play, but often I found myself just watching the match. Additionally, the teams shared with us their yearly plans as well as details on the player’s daily diets and practice timings. The experience was a lot of fun. On the last day of the course, we played a tournament (league system). I was thrilled when I won the best player award. It was a big surprise because there were so many good players on the course. I believe I was given the award because the organizers saw a huge improvement in me over the course of the training period. I am so grateful to Magic Bus for giving me this incredible opportunity and will work hard to share my knowledge and training to improve the skill level of our children.