ASN: U.S.-Educated Coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi Settles in Ghana

The 46-year-old coach of Ghana’s Hearts of Oak was born in Japan however considers the US—and New York Metropolis particularly—his adopted dwelling. Brian Sciaretta shares his story right here.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
December 16, 2015
10:00 PM

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GHANAIAN GIANT Hearts of Oak had hit a snag.

A membership with a formidable historical past that features 20 Ghanaian-league titles and 10 Ghanaian FA Cup titles, Hearts of Oak in 2000 had claimed the CAF Champions League as Africa’s finest workforce. Twice earlier than it was the runner-up. However since 2009 it had not earned any silverware in any respect, and when it got here time to seek out an all-important new coach this previous October, 46-year-old Kenichi Yatsuhashi was the person tasked with the turnaround.

Yatsuhashi, thoughts you, was hardly the plain alternative: At on the time of his appointment, he had by no means earlier than coached on the skilled stage. Most of his teaching expertise, the truth is, had come on the U.S. collegiate stage, and never at UCLA, UVA, or Georgetown, both—he was on the Nationwide Junior Faculty Athletic Affiliation Division III stage.

“The Hearts of Oak fans have been very frustrated,” Yatsuhashi informed American Soccer Now from Ghana. “They want to see Hearts of Oak winning the league and also the FA Cup. Whether we can achieve that in my first year, I really don’t know. I am trying my best.

“I am not saying we can’t; everyone has a chance. But it is going to be difficult and challenging. Looking at the talent we have and how quickly we are adapting under me, I think it is a quite good possibility that we can shock everyone in a positive way.”

Yatsuhashi has each proper to be formidable: Up till six years in the past, he had been the coach of lowly Borough of Manhattan Neighborhood Faculty in New York Metropolis.

After taking the job in 2001, Yatsuhashi led BMCC to a third-place end on the 2005 NJCAA nationals and that yr was named junior faculty coach of the yr. He left the varsity in 2009—having develop into pissed off over what he noticed as soccer not being a excessive sufficient precedence—and returned to his native Japan, taking a task inside the Japanese soccer federation. Then, from 2012 to 2014, he abruptly had develop into the technical director for the federation of Kyrgyzstan.

Yatsuhashi truly is just not an American citizen, however the roots of his rise can nonetheless be traced again, oddly, to the US. Yatsuhashi initially got here to the nation in 1986 to check artwork; kind of ever since, he has been finding out soccer as a substitute.

In time, he earned his U.S. Soccer Federation “A” teaching licenses and a U.S.S.F. “National Youth” teaching license, in addition to varied others from CONCACAF, FIFA, and the AFC. At one level he traveled to Qatar to work with a number of outstanding European coaches in a quest to be taught.

“Most of my coaching education happened in the United States, but I did not go to the U.S. to be a coach,” Yatsuhashi mentioned. “I went to the United States to go to college. I wanted to be an artist. I started coaching during my college days in 1992. The national youth coaching from U.S. Soccer was the most influential course I’ve ever had. I am still using a lot of what I learned in that course—a more player-centered approach—not only for young kids but also for older kids and senior players.”

Yatsuhashi went to highschool in New York and, falling in love with the town, earned his inexperienced card and stayed for 23 years. At one level he turned eligible for American citizenship, however the paperwork and purposes charges have been round $1,000, so he handed. It was a possibility he now regrets.

However Yatsuhashi didn’t cross on Hearts of Oak, and Hearts of Oak (maybe a bit luckily) didn’t cross on him. He utilized for the opening with the assistance of some brokers he knew in Asia, and along with his résumé boosted by his licensing, he quickly discovered himself among the many closing three. What occurred subsequent stays unclear, even to Yatsuhashi, however the different two candidates thereafter turned unavailable.

Yatsuhashi received the job.

However to say that he’s a controversial coach in Ghana could be an understatement. Some studies have even advised that he must win the title in his first yr to maintain his job.

“I was very shocked on the first day,” Yatsuhashi recalled. “This was the primary time I used to be ever criticized this a lot earlier than my first day coaching. However there are additionally some people who find themselves actually supporting me. The eye that I get on the tv, the radio, the Web, the print media—my image is there on daily basis.

“I never coached a professional team before. This was the first time an Asian coach has come to coach a Ghanaian team. So people are very, very critical. But when I woke up on the second day, I started to enjoy the pressure. From that moment on, anything people said, either positive or negative, I have been able to convert that energy positively into my motivation, so it’s been good.”

The season is ready to begin in early 2016, and Yatsuhashi is pleased with Hearts of Oak’s preseason progress. He additionally understands, although, that the workforce has an extended approach to go if it hopes to surpass final season’s fourth-place end and maybe even contend for the championship.

But when there’s anybody who is aware of assist a membership go a great distance, maybe it’s a person who’s come a great distance himself.

Yatsuhashi remains to be himself shocked at his private journey, one which he acknowledges is decidedly unconventional. He skipped “two stages” of a path he outlined for himself at one level, he admits—however that doesn’t imply he’s reached his peak.

Whereas he says his current is totally centered on Hearts of Oak, Yatsuhashi retains a watch on American soccer, significantly with New York Metropolis FC and the New York Cosmos having sprouted up since he left, proper inside his favourite metropolis.

“I definitely want to return at one point,” Yatsuhashi mentioned. “Whether or not that possibility involves me at one level, solely God is aware of. However I hope I can. Though I labored for the Japanese Soccer Affiliation for 2 years, my base is within the U.S. That’s the manner I believe I’m distinctive and totally different from many coaches.

“After all I’ve a background as a Japanese particular person, however the best way I believe and do issues is influenced largely not simply due to the US however New York Metropolis, the place I lived for 23 years. It’s a metropolis the place there are lots of competitions and lots of variety. It is a dynamic metropolis, and I really feel very comfy there.

“I love that city. I definitely feel my home is New York.”