The program, called AIA Soccer for the Nation – Training-for-Trainers, was held from April 17 to 27 and involved local soccer coaches who have just started their careers taking part in a training session facilitated by members of Tottenham Hotspur’s global coaching team. The local soccer coaches work as elementary school sports teachers from Jakarta and Ambon, Maluku.

Besides providing training, AIA also provided coaching clinics to students across Jakarta, Bandung in West Java to Ambon and Tulehu in Maluku.  

Tottenham Hotspur’s involvement in the program itself was thanks to its ties with AIA as the insurance company’s principal global partner. Through the partnership, the team assigned two of its coaches permanently in Asia to support AIA’s expansion of the TOT program.

During its array of soccer programs across Jakarta, Ambon and Bandung, AIA also donated new soccer balls to 10,000 children living in these three cities. The insurance company also donated money to support infrastructure development for soccer players in Tulehu and Ambon.

In Jakarta, AIA’s TOT program took place on April 17 and 18 in a soccer field run by state-owned energy company Pertamina in Simprug, South Jakarta. The Jakarta chapter of the TOT program involved sports teachers from elementary schools across Jakarta.

In Maluku, the TOT program started on April 20 in Ambon. The Maluku program moved forward on April 21 and 22 to Tulehu, where Tottenham Hotspur’s coaches provided coaching clinics to elementary school students.

The program continued on April 25 in Bandung at the city’s UNI soccer field, where elementary school students took part in a coaching clinic from Tottenham Hotspur global coaching team member Anton Blackwood.

On April 26, the program went full circle to Jakarta again, whereby AIA provided a soccer coaching clinic session for underprivileged children living in the Rawa Bebek low-cost apartments in East Jakarta.

“We would like to give a chance to youngsters who have an interest in soccer to develop their talent. The activity also seeks to inspire the public to engage in a healthy lifestyle from a young age by engaging in physical exercise such as soccer,” PT AIA financial head of brand and communication Kathryn Parapak said.

According to PT AIA financial legal, compliance and risk director Rista Qatrini Manurung, by improving the quality of local soccer coaches, the TOT program seeks to improve overall soccer achievements.

“This program demonstrates our support for the Youth and Sports Ministry’s TOT program for soccer coaches, which aims at training 100,000 coaches nationwide. Through this program, we give a chance to talented soccer coaches to boost their skills. The program is also one of our efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle among the public,” she said.

Youth and Sports Ministry undersecretary for sports mainstreaming Raden Isnanta said the ministry appreciated AIA for supporting it in attaining its target of training 100,000 soccer coaches nationwide.

“AIA’s support helps us develop the capabilities of local soccer coaches. Indonesia suffers from a paucity of high-quality soccer coaches. Through this joint program, we would like to increase the quantity soccer coaches and train more talented athletes properly to help them become professionals,” he said.

“We hope that in the future, more organizations will support our TOT program, just like AIA,” he added.

The TOT program across Jakarta, Bandung and Maluku concluded on April 27. AIA, however, soon went ahead with its regular soccer coaching clinic sessions for children, as on May 2 it took soccer coach Indra Sjafri to Pringsewu regency in Lampung to help local children boost their soccer skills.

On the sidelines of the coaching clinic program in Lampung, AIA also donated 500 balls to children who enrolled in a soccer school there.

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