{"id":19813,"date":"2014-12-17T01:23:12","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T09:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=19813"},"modified":"2014-12-17T01:23:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T09:23:12","slug":"de-reus-impressed-by-iran-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2014\/12\/17\/de-reus-impressed-by-iran-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"De Reus impressed by Iran initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Womenssoccerunited.com – Iran is a nation that lives and breathes football and the women\u2019s game there is no exception, the sport having rapidly increased in popularity among women and girls in recent years.
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The country\u2019s third-most popular women\u2019s discipline, behind only volleyball and basketball, great strides have been made particularly in futsal, with Iran\u2019s established four-tiered league structure no doubt a factor in the national side\u2019s impressive fifth place at the last Women\u2019s Futsal World Tournament in Spain in 2013.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Women\u2019s Soccer United following an assessment visit to the Middle Eastern nation, former Jordan and Australia head coach Hesterine de Reus was keen to highlight the progressive work being carried out behind the scenes on Iranian soil: \u201cAs part of an agreement between UEFA and the AFC, I\u2019m delivering technical assistance to Asian countries as a part of their Women\u2019s Assistance Program, which aims to raise standards in every member association,\u201d said De Reus, who is a UEFA Pro License holder and member of UEFA\u2019s Technical Study Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is a passionate football nation, for boys and girls alike, and I was very impressed by all the opportunities the IR Iran Football Federation (FFIRI) creates for women and girls, whether they be in football, futsal or beach football. Grassroots initiatives are very strong, with many activities held at schools across all the provinces. Girls can start playing five-a-side football from the age of eight, there are national club competitions set up at U-14, U-16, U-19 and senior level, and futsal academies across all age levels spanning 32 provinces,\u201d explained De Reus, herself a former coach of the Netherlands\u2019 U-15, U-17 and U-19 squads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FFIRI Women\u2019s Committee holds around 1,000 local competitions and 100 inter-university competitions a year and, in addition, there are 14 women working across various departments of the FFIRI, led by Dr.Farideh Khanom Shojaei, who is head of the federation\u2019s Women\u2019s Committee and a member of the AFC Women\u2019s Committee too. I was also impressed by how FFIRI President Ali Kafashian took the time to meet our delegation to discuss women\u2019s football, and by how well-informed he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is 100 per cent driven by women themselves,\u201d continued the former PSV Eindhoven supremo. \u201cAll the coaches, referees and referees\u2019 assistants involved in women\u2019s football are female \u2013 with the exception of the national team\u2019s goalkeeping coach Kourosh Estakhri. I see it as a strength that after hanging up their boots women\u2019s footballers take up jobs to further develop the game, though at the same time [having only women involved] can be a weakness. Women coaches have fewer opportunities to develop their coaching skills and it\u2019s difficult for them to find good knowledge resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those who has seized the opportunities that have come her way, however, is former Iranian international Katayoun \u201cKatiana\u201d Khosrowyar, currently in charge of her country\u2019s U-14 women\u2019s side and an assistant coach at U-16 level. \u201cI started playing at the age of five in the USA and when I came to Iran in 2005 at 17 I was desperate to keep playing, so I signed up first for futsal and then, a few months later, the 11-a-side game. I was soon selected for the Iran team that finished second at the very first West Asian Football Federation Women\u2019s Championship [in 2005], under leading coach Shahrzad Mozafar, and after that the FFIRI has really put a lot of focus on women\u2019s football and on increasing our supporter base,\u201d said the 27-year-old, who has a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Birmingham, UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began my coaching education at the age of 23, when I was nominated by the FFIRI to go for my AFC \u201cC\u201d Coaching Certificate, a course held in Sri Lanka,\u201d went on the ex-midfielder. \u201cFrom there I was nominated by [former FIFA Women\u2019s Football Instructor and AFC Elite Coach Instructor] Belinda Wilson to participate in the AFC-funded Project Future, which aims to develop highly capable future coaches. As part of a group of both men and women from Asia, we then went through a rigorous two-year programme to obtain our \u201cB\u201d license. Once that was completed, my instructors felt I had what it took to go for my \u201cA\u201d license and I achieved that too, becoming one of the youngest coaches in Asia to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having hit such heights in coaching development, what does Khosrowyar feel is key to her continued progress? \u201cThe FFIRI has done so much to develop women\u2019s coaches and referees and the challenge now is to get more games and tournaments to put our knowledge to the test and keep advancing. Education is vital but diplomas and certificates aren\u2019t everything, we also need practice, practice and more practice!\u201d<\/p>\n

And in her own expert view, what does Dutch strategist De Reus feel is required to continue to boost the Iranian game? \u201cDomestic competitions are crucial for players\u2019 development. The top countries keep developing their professional leagues with the professional facilities that come with them, with Iran needing to keep improving the quality of its Super League,\u201d said De Reus, before touching on the subject of a national team currently 58th in FIFA\/Coca-Cola Women\u2019s World Ranking, 13th among AFC teams. \u201cIt would be helpful if the best national-team players could gain experience abroad, while the women\u2019s national team schedule needs more continuity and more international matches \u2013 against increasingly strong teams \u2013 in order to improve the senior team\u2019s performances and narrow the gap to countries such as Australia, Korea Republic, Korea DPR and China PR.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, though major challenges remain, such as the fact women\u2019s football is not broadcast on TV and the cultural and religious regulations that make hosting international tournaments difficult, I\u2019m confident that, thanks to the understanding and support received from FIFA and the AFC, the hard work the FFIRI puts in, and last but not least the talent and potential of the country\u2019s women and girls, the future could be bright for Iranian women\u2019s football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Womenssoccerunited.com – Iran is a nation that lives and breathes football and the women\u2019s game…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c47-featured-news","category-c31-pfdc-interviews"],"views":4282,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}