"Humanity" - Tetsuhiro Ichiba/THE PROFESSIONAL FC

INTRODUCTION
"If you knock the door, it might be opened but if you don't, it won't never open for you"

 Currently I'm a director of Isehara Football Club Forest (Forest) based at Isehara City in Kanagawa Prefecture, Tetsuhiro Ichiba. The kids call me "Coach Tecchan". 

 At Forest, we have the age group from Kindergarten (U-4 to U-6), Primary Schools (U7 to U12) and Junior High School (U13-U15). While I work as a director, I'm also mainly taking in charge of Kids group, which is U4 to U8 and coaching them in the training and at matches. 

 The Club's concept is:

"We nurture the children's 'Humanity' through football and learn together with their parents. We provide 'Four Step Method', which is formed by working experiences in Germany, England and J League.

 'Four Step Method' is the method that verbalize the flow of plays. Perception, Anticipation, Decision-Making and Execution. In other words, it indicates the four steps that are observing, anticipating, making the decision based on the options and executing.

 This is not only applied on the pitch, but also can be used in daily bases or studying.

 The beginning of my career started when I went to Germany to learn the coaching of Football. There were two reasons why I chose Germany. Firstly because Nihon Sports University which I was attending, had the exchange program with Cologne Sports University. Secondly the country was more advanced than any others in terms of learning the coaching. 

 Advanced means that the structure to learn was well systematized at that time by having the levels and steps. It was the ideal place for me who was keen to learn.

 At Cologne, I was playing for the first team of local club which the level was similar to Prefecture Third Division in Japan, with the old fellows.

 At the same time, I was a head coach of U-6 team of my club. It was the first time to be on the ground as a coach and I was getting attracted by its role.

 I wasn't be able to speak well when I went to Germany. I remember that I struggled like the other foreign students to communicate.

 However, I also learned that I can actually communicate even we couldn't understand our words. This was, for me, a big surprise but also joy and fun at the same time.

 Especially with Kids group, it is more correct way to describe my role was to "play with football" than "coach the football".  I was amazed that it can be actually a job.

 Whilst I was working hard in the coaching field, there was something important I realized during the stay in Germany too. It was that German children were very self-assertive. I felt it was something Japanese were missing. 

 Also if you have studied abroad, I guess everyone has felt this before. That is, "If you knock the door, it might be opened but if you don't, it won't never open for you". 

 It means that the way of life can be discovered by taking action, but nothing will develop, progress nor go ahead unless you take the first step by yourself.

 These experiences and awareness became my big treasure. And I had an idea that if I go back to Japan, I want to tell it is important to give the opinions to others, to be self-assertive, and to communicate each other, through football. I was always having the ideas of making the club where the players can take an ownership. 

 Those skills are the factors regarding to "Humanity" and working on this area became the attractiveness of coaching as I got more experiences.

CAREER
"we have to do it when they are very little and continuously"