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Catalan coach teaching tiki-taka to Chinese kids
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A 36-year-old Spanish football coach is doing his best to bring tiki-taka football to youngsters in central China’s city of Wuhan.
In 2014, Sergio Ledesma Vera, a former professional coach in Barcelona, came to the capital city of Hubei Province where he serves as an international coach in a children’s training camp.
Sporting a buzz cut, Vera is full of energy. Having graduated with a master’s degree in sports psychology in 2009, he has previously worked as a football coach, a competition judge and a sports facility manager.
Vera has his own unique ideas about how to get children interested in playing football.
“In Spain, children begin to play football when they are 3 or 4 years old. Without utilitarian goals, they are really interested in football. The sport is indispensable to their daily life,” says Vera.
“I came here to stimulate Chinese children’s interest in and talent for football,” he notes.
In 2014, the Wuhan Football Association implemented a training project for children, introducing over 10 international coaches to the training camp. Vera is among them.
After three years in Wuhan, Vera can only speak several simple Chinese sentences, but he says the language barrier never hinders him to communicate with the children.
Common language
“Football is a common language shared by us. I use two-color chess pieces to illustrate game strategies and tactics and they can easily understand what I want to express,” says Vera.
He later asked the children, “In the fast transition from offense to defense, as a yellow team member, if you are encircled by your opponents, what should you do?”
But the Spaniard holds that theoretical education alone is not enough. In order to teach them more effectively, Vera also takes turns as a player and participates in games with them.
Every morning, he formulates training schedules with Chinese coaches, and in the afternoon he plays with the children.
“They are talented young players selected from schools across Wuhan. Most of them are 8 to 15 years old. They go to school in the day and come to play football after school. Now I am teaching 20 children born in 2009,” Vera says.
Taking their ages into consideration, different training methods should be used to maintain their interest in the sport and in the training, he stressed.
In winter holidays, Vera will take the children to play in matches.
“Playing in a match can help them gain experience and make progress,” he adds. “They have great potential, and will be future stars. I am looking forward to their growth!”
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