Duke (seated fourth left) and participants give the thumbs-up at the end of the course.
BINTULU: High quality coaches are essential for Sarawak to produce good local footballers who can play at the national and international levels.
This was stated by Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) vice president Duke Janteng who added that it was a big challenge to produce such coaches.
“Without quality coaches to unearth local talents at the grassroots level both in urban and rural areas, our objective to produce high quality local players will not be realised,” said Duke, who is also Bintulu Football Association (Bifa) president, at the closing of the state-level Asian Football Confederation (AFC) C Licence coaching course at Bintulu Civic Centre recently.
Also present were head instructor Nadarajen Chellamuthu from Pulau Pinang, assistant instructor Wan Jamak Wan Hassan from Johor, Bintulu head coach Zaidel Termidi Suhaili, Bifa Football Development Division chairman Mohd Tuah Ismail and Bifa secretary Ibrahim Tahir.
Duke also highlighted the fact that there are only eight coaches in the state with the AFC C licence.
“I hope the coaches who attended the course will continue to develop their potential even if they are not selected in the state coaching team, but they still can share their knowledge,” he added.