THE appointment of little-known Mohamed Zainudeen Hassan as Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Head of Coach Education & Development made a lot of heads turn this week.
I was personally surprised, too. He comes with no high-end senior player or coaching decorations although he is a AFC ‘A’-Licenced coach and his best football merits beyond Singapore shores was in leading the Cerebral Palsy (CP) team to podium finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ASEAN Para Games, while concurrently also leading Hong Kah Secondary School successfully in school competitions.
No big name? No big-playing experience? No high-profile personality? No big-talker off-the-field of play? Even super personal characteristics in no smoking, drinking or womanising.
In a nutshell, as I’ve known him over three decades when we were in the same management committee of the-then Singapore Soccer Coaches Association (SSCA), he was a simple, God-fearing, football-fanatic, who sincerely knew his limitations as a player but wanted to learn and upgrade in the academic world of coaching.
The 50-year-old Zainudeen reminds me of the Hollywood blockbuster movie “Forrest Grump” of a slow-witted lad who never thought of himself as disadvantaged, and thanks to his supportive mother, he leads anything but a restricted life. Whether dominating on the gridiron as a college football star, fighting in Vietnam or captaining a shrimp boat, Forrest (excellently played by Tom Hanks) inspires people with his child-like optimism.
Zainudeen is indeed Singapore football’s ‘Forrest Grump’.
For the record, played a low-profile role in the football scene since 1996 when he took on his first coach appointment under the Milo Soccer School before assuming the role of Head of Youth Development for Balestier Khalsa Centre of Excellence (COE), a post he had held from 2000 to 2009.
COACHING EDUCATION IS FORTE
He never ventured to coach at higher-end Prime League or S-League levels, always enjoying coaching education at the grassroots, where he knew he had the genuine knack of imparting the value-added A-B-Cs of the sport to the younger generation.
“He just had that gift of the gap in motivating the schoolboys and teaching them the right elementaries in the do’s and don’t’s of basic football,” says award-winning former national coach Jita Singh, the youngest coach at 31 years to win the Malaysia Cup in 1980. “I, too, faced, similar handicaps in the late 1970s when I wasn’t a star national footballer and there were a few critics who looked down on me, too.
“But I rose to the occasion and proved them wrong with an extraordinary passion and hunger to succeed. That’s what Zainudeen needs now. He has very big shoes to fill, without top-level international experience but I believe if we give him the right ropes, he can succeed, too.”
Zainudeen’s key responsibilities include working closely with coaches from the FAS-affiliated clubs and their COEs (Centres of Excellence) as well as implementing the FAS Coach Education Form syllabus to further develop local football coaches in line with AFC standards.
He will also play a key role in ensuring the ecosystem’s youth development is aligned with the FAS’ Development philosophy, neatly structured recently under world-famous Belgium football guru Michel Sablon.
‘HARDWORKING BLOKE’
Former Singapore skipper-coach Nazri Nasir gave the thumbs-up, too. He says: “Zainudeen is a hardworking bloke and he rightly climbed up the ladder in coaches’ education although he was never a big-time player. You really don’t need that.
“His real forte is in teaching and we must respect his personal strengths. He has differing perspectives and he may view the sport from a different angle and teach and educate coaches of various levels the right value-added basics off-the-field of play.”
Former FAS Technical Director and national coach P.N. Sivaji says he was “surprised it took quite some time for the position to be filled after it became vacant” with Vincent Subramaniam finishing his contract and returning to Bangalore, India.
Sivaji, now a technical director with a Myanmar-based professional club Hantharwardy United, adds: “As it is a very important position I can only surmise that FAS must have screened extensively for the right candidate before arriving at their decision.
“Zainudeen has the experience, knowledge and temperament for the job. He has extensive contacts in the football world which should put him in good stead for the job. It’s a huge responsibility and I’m confident that Zai will do a great job.”
Former SSCA Vice President and retired Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Wong describes Zainudeen as a “knowledgeable guy and with all his experience coaching at different levels from being involved in youth development, he’s the right guy to take us to the next level of excellence”.
Wong, now the Vice President of NFL Division One club South Avenue, says: “His best human credentials is he’s down to earth with no airs, an honest to goodness chap. I hope he gets all the support he needs from the coaching fraternity. With everyone pulling in one common direction, this should lead to better things to come downstream. Success won’t be immediate but if all can believe in him,that can only be good for our future.”
BANKING ON HOME-GROWN TALENT
After multiple years of depending on foreign coaches for coaching and coaches education, FAS President Lim Kia Tong must be timely commended on banking on home-grown talent, regardless of someone without big-time regional reputation.
Echoing Kia Tong’s confidence and in giving Zainudeen the deserving vote of confidence, FAS General Secretary Yazeen Buhari says: “He has been actively involved in Singapore football and has a good understanding of regional football and its trends, through his roles in the AFC and the Asean Football Federation (AFF).”
“Coach education and development is a key part of FAS’ strategic plan, and with Zainudeen’s experience and understanding of the local and regional football coaching system, we believe that he would be able to further guide and support our coaches.”
Former Lion City Cup coach-manager of the mid-1970s and veteran Jin Tai Secondary School teacher Sies Senan, who was one of Zainudeen’s iconic role-models, says: “He has learned a lot from coaching Hong Kah Secondary School, raising them from an unknown to becoming one of the best in town. He is very sincere in his coaching work, he’s hard working and what most inportant is that extraordinary football passion.
“As a former Jin Tai Secondary School player, he has been following my footsteps and never failed getting every form of advice from me. Deep in my heart, I’m very proud of him, moving up step by step, in a very slow but sure way, to achieve his higher football dreams.”
Robert Lim, the former national assistant coach in the 1990s, who coached regionally with Thailand-based clubs, too, says: “There’s a big void after Vincent Subramaniam’s departure. It’s a huge pair of shoes to fill. Zainudeen is passionate and hardworking, he needs time to settle in. Let’s give him the space and time.”
JOKE IN FOOTBALL CIRCLES
Matter of fact, there’s a little standing joke in football circles that if you pass Zainudeen’s apartment in Telok Blangah Road, you’ll see multiple coaching certificates lined up even along the corridors to the liftway as he has attended umpteen coaching courses in Asia, Europe and even South America. He just never stopped learning and most of the time he paid his own way to upgrade himself.
I vividly remember when Zainudeen took the mantle of head coach of the mentally-handicapped nearly six years ago, he even completed a coaching course specialising in disability football, conducted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Noting his qualifications, the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) called him up to coach a weekly football session for CP players.
I believe In Zainudeen’s books, success coaching is a powerful relationship in which client and coach work to improve the quality of the client’s life. Through dialogue, inquiry, goal setting, accountability and general motivational techniques, the smart coach supports the client, regardless of physical or mental setbacks, to assume full responsibility for creating a fulfilling life.
In my opinion, after three decades of personal friendship with Zainudeen, he’s a gentleman with a very big heart, who is daring to take on any assignment, regardless of physical handicaps whatsoever.
I will never forget Zainudeen’s words to me: “I’ve been trying to guide them (the mentally and physically handicapped teenagers) to achieve their goals on and off the pitch. They have to make choices as they grow up, in terms of studies or work.
“There is always some form of advice that I can give them. How can ordinary people like us complain about life, when people like them are pushing themselves so hard to achieve something?”
Zainudeen knows he’s got mountains to climb to prove that he’s worthy of this top FAS coach-education assignment. He’s aware that building relationships in instructional coaching is the most integral part that must be in place, to ensure success in any coaching model.
TRUST AND RESPECT
At the back of his mind, he’s firm in the belief that In order for players and teachers to trust a coach and be open to coaching, they need to have a relationship built on trust and respect. A coaching relationship is the same as any other relationship. There needs to be room for communication, expression of concerns and fears, and the ability to show your vulnerabilities to impact teaching and learning.
Over the FAS website, Zainudeen says: “Coach education and development is an important part of football. Not only does it ensure that our coaches are kept updated with the ever-changing game of football, it also aligns them in achieving the desired outcomes of our Football Development plans. Part of coach education also includes imparting and inculcating key values – respect, teamwork and passion – through football in the players.”
As Nazri Nasir, who was the captain of the Lions from 1997 to 2003, and led the team to the 1998 AFF Championship title, says, Zainudeen is “not a footballer with a super playing background but a diligent educator who never fails to upgrade himself in order to get the classroom strategies right for the younger coaches”.
Remember: Never write little-known Zainudeen off. In my sporting philosophy, the relationship between coach and teacher needs to be protected and nurtured. – By SURESH NAIR
- Suresh Nair is a Singapore-based journalist who is also an AFC-Licenced coach and referee instructor. He served in the same SSCA committee as Zainudeen in the 1990s. He believes Zainudeen has the ability to inspire, impact change, support, push thinking and be the coaching-cheerleader the FAS needs.
