Wajah Bola Selangor is a collection of articles and stories of individuals recorded on the field, stadiums, cities, and streets to bring to you the life of those behind the scenes of Selangor football.

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Assalamualaikum and good day to all readers. In this edition of Wajah Bola Selangor, it is now my turn to share my story. 

My name is Nik Juhaisham Tarmizi B Hj Juhari or better known as Coach Nik.

I was born in Pasir Puteh, Kota Bharu, Kelantan and was born on 13th June 1982.

I am a married man with two children. My wife’s name is Nor Aziela Bt Mohd Ramli, my eldest son is Nik Mukhriz Qasrin (11 years old) and my second son is Nik Mukhriz Mikael (6 years old).

Now I am staying in Klang and have been staying there for almost 12 years after getting married. Before that, I lived in Kuala Lumpur for about three years. 

Currently, I am the Head Coach for Youths in Selangor. This program is called the KJRN (Ketua Jurulatih Remaja Negeri) program under the wings of the National Football Development Program (NFDP).

NFDP has 4 main stakeholders which are the Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Council, Football Association of Malaysia and also the Ministry of Education. 

In NFDP, I am given the responsibility to oversee ten training centers around Selangor that consist of four Akademi Tunas (AT), five Pusat Latihan Daerah (PLD) and one sports school that is the Selangor State Sports School.

Akademi Tunas trainees are all aged seven to twelve years old. 

The first center operates out of SK Seksyen 7, AT Kuala Selangor operates out of SK Batu 9, AT Hulu Langat is based in SK Kajang and the fourth AT is AT Hulu Selangor which operates out of SK Taman Bunga Raya. 

Meanwhile, the PLDs are PLD Klang in SMK Meru, PLD Kuala Selangor in SMK Dato Harun, PLD Hulu Selangor in SMK Syed Mansor, PLD Hulu Langat in Sekolah Tinggi Kajang and PLD Petaling Perdana in SMK USJ 23. 

I am tasked to look after these players aged from seven to 17 years old. My daily routine involves me going to each center to check up on the development of the young players being trained in those centers. 

Besides that, I also need to ensure that the coaches implement the training programs that were developed. 

Besides watching over the players, I am also responsible to oversee the coaches that are placed under my supervision.

 
How the trainees are being trained, training modules, systems that the coaches implement, all these are under my portfolio and I need to supervise these on a daily basis. 

Also, I have to organize courses for the coaches under the NFDP program to ensure that each coach receives the latest information from the NFDP Technical Director. 

This will help ensure that all coaches are always able to execute the plans that are set in place perfectly. 
So, how did I get involved with this coaching career?

The main factor driving this was my intense passion for football. Since I was in school, I was very active in participating in football. When I was in secondary school, I represented Kelantan to play in the national level tournament. 

After that, I played in the Kuala Lumpur Piala Belia team and after that, I managed to make my debut for the Kuala Lumpur senior team in 2003 playing against Sarawak in Stadium Negeri Sarawak when I was 21 years old. 

At the same time, I was studying at Maktab Perguruan Ilmu Khas Cheras. After I finished my studies, I received an offer to work in Selangor and that forced me to move to Selangor. This was the driving factor for me to end my career as a football player as it was very difficult for me to go back and forth from the training ground and my workplace. 

During that time, to be chosen to play for Selangor is no mean feat as Selangor had many talented players to pick from. Therefore, I made a decision to be a full-time teacher in my first school, SK Tropicana in Petaling Jaya as a Physical Education teacher in 2004. 

Yes, I am a teacher and also a head coach. 

When I was teaching, the NFDP program or at that time it was still known as My Kid Soccer was started and I was offered to participate in the program in the year 2010. 

In 2014, I was with AT Petaling Perdana in SK Seksyen 7 and in 2015 I was promoted to being the head coach of that AT.

In 2016, I was transferred to SSN Selangor and on the 1st of June 2017, I was offered to be the head coach of Selangor Youth Development. 

To be a grassroots coach is no easy task and there are many challenges that a grassroots coach will face. Among the challenges were to take care of the trainees placed under our care. Sometimes, they can be quite playful and does not take our teachings seriously. 

For your information, ATs only pick the best players to join the centers. However, do not assume that when we pick the best does not necessarily mean that it makes the coaching process easier. 

In fact, sometimes it makes coaching a little harder as we need to make sure that they improve from the time they joined the center, not just from the aspect of their gameplay, but also mentally as well. 

The whole time I was involved in grassroots coaching, the one thing that I will never forget was the time I was reprimanded by the previous Technical Director of NFDP, Lim Teong Kim. 

I was reprimanded because when I went into the coaches' room, I did not shake the hands of all coaches even though I did greet them initially. Because of that, I was given a two-hour lecture by Coach Lim and this is something that will be etched in my memories forever.  

Lastly, as a coach that is relatively experienced in football grassroots development, I would like to remind everyone that besides the players’ commitment, the parents’ commitment is also an important factor in a player’s success. 

This is because the parents are the ones that will make the commitment to send and pick the players from training, ensure the players get sufficient rest.

Coach Nik

Grassroots football coach, a loving father & Badhri Radzi colleagues.