The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) successfully conducted the 2026 Center of Development (COD) Coaches Workshop last June 17 to 21 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, gathering 24 coaches from six Regional Football Associations (RFAs) spanning Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The workshop, facilitated by PFF Youth Development Head Tetsuya Tsuchida, featured a combination of classroom lectures, field sessions, and live observation of training under the Japan Football Association (JFA) methodology.
PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez underscored the significance of the program as a cornerstone of the federation’s long-term development strategy.
“The COD Coaches Workshop is central to our vision of building a truly nationwide football ecosystem, one where quality coaching is no longer confined to traditional centers but reaches every corner of the Philippines,” Gutierrez said.
By investing in our coaches, we are investing in the next generation of players who will one day wear the Philippine jersey.
The three-day workshop commenced on June 17 with an online preparatory session via Zoom, providing participants with an advance orientation on the training guide and program framework.
On-site activities began June 19 with classroom sessions covering technique, individual tactics, and attacking play, followed by practical field sessions at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium focusing on dribbling, passing, first touch, and heading. The second day brought coaches to Atleta63 Bridgetowne to observe live NCRFA training sessions centered on attacking principles both on and off the ball, before returning for afternoon group meetings and activity reporting.
The final day was devoted entirely to practical training sessions that synthesized all learnings from the previous days, culminating in a closing ceremony.
The six participating RFAs represented a broad cross-section of Philippine football geography: the Iloilo-Guimaras Regional Football Association (IGRFA), the Negros Occidental Regional Football Association (NORFA), the Cebu Regional Football Association (CRFA), Bukidnon Football Association (BUFA), Albay-Catanduanes Regional Football Association (ALCARFA), and the Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi Regional Football Association (ZAMBASULTA).
Participating coaches highlighted both the technical and relational value of the workshop.
Coach Junty Castillo of ZAMBASULTA, whose region has produced national team stalwarts including Camille Rodriguez and Mark Villon, noted the consistency of the JFA-aligned methodology across successive COD editions.
“The training is really structured and we really like how the flow of the training, the lectures and the field sessions concentrate on the topics,” Castillo said. “It is the same method of how Coach Tetsuya trains and we really think it is very applicable for those CODs existing now.”
For Coach Karl Adrian Rellama of ALCARFA, the workshop represented a long-awaited breakthrough for Bicol-region football.
We’ve been waiting for this for almost 20 years. So we are lucky and grateful for this moment.
Coach Tommy Escoltero of IGRFA, meanwhile, emphasized how the workshop’s modern tactical content complements Iloilo’s storied football tradition: “In modern football, it should be possible to develop and improve in Iloilo, especially on the tactical side.”
Coach Ace Villanueva of CRFA, attending his first COD, described the program’s approach as revelatory.
“It’s a breath of fresh air, the system that Japan is teaching here,” said Villanueva, a former UAAP Best Goalkeeper. “Coach Tetsuya’s training is more compressed and more specific with the technique.”
Coach Alphe Van Dela Mance of BUFA expressed confidence that the curriculum’s emphasis on transitions — attacking to defending and back — would directly strengthen Bukidnon’s youth squads.
“The development of the young players is higher,” he said. “It’s easier to develop the young players using this program.”
Coach Virgilio Subrado Jr. of NORFA echoed the collective sentiment: “Coaches should never stop learning.”
The PFF Center of Development is a nationwide youth football program launched under the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, providing a standardized elite training pathway for talented young players and youth coaches in the Under-14 and Under-16 age brackets across regional football associations.
The COD Coaches Workshop serves as a key mechanism for ensuring that the Federation’s grassroots philosophy is consistently and effectively delivered by grassroots coaches at the community level throughout the country.
