New Footballsouth development officer Luiz Uehara, at the
Caledonian Ground this week. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Luiz Uehara has taken a long route to become
Footballsouth's new football development officer.
Uehara (40) hails from Sao Paulo in Brazil but has lived in
New Zealand for 10 years and takes over his new role from
Terry Phelan.
Phelan, the former Republic of Ireland international and
premier league footballer, who also managed Otago United, has
moved on to Goa, India, where he is doing a similar job
developing footballers.
Uehara has spent many years coaching football, starting out
in Brazil and then coaching in Japan, where he met his New
Zealand wife Nicola.
They came back to Dunedin and Uehara has been involved in
football ever since.
He has run football schools, and coached futsal teams, as
well as coaching football teams at various clubs around
Dunedin.
He studied physical education at University of Otago and is
now studying for a PhD on skill acquisition, focusing on
football, for which will be use Brazilian football as
research.
He has another two years to complete the PhD.
Uehara said he was excited to take on his new role.
The "whole of football" plan developed by New Zealand
Football was a holistic approach to the game, to develop
all-round players, he said, and also improve the skills of
coaches, who were vital for the game.
The new plan meant games on Saturday mornings for youngsters
would not be all about playing the game but also working on
skills and technique.
Uehara said he hoped to bring all facets of football from all
corners of the globe to coaching.
There was a lot of talent in the southern region, he said,
and if it could be harnessed in the right direction, it could
blossom.
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