Richard Bate (CSA Technical Director) Thread

[Joe MacCarthy]

Canadian Soccer Association
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Richard Bate Named Canada’s Technical Director

http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2316

http://www.canadasoccer.com/images/media/bate_hs.jpg
Richard Bate

Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) has named Richard Bate, effective October 14, 2005, as Canada’s new Technical Director. Bate’s contract will see him lead the country’s technical programs until the end of 2009.

“After an exhaustive, extensive global search for the ‘right person’ to lead our Association’s technical programs, I believe we have the perfect man for the job,” declared CSA President Andy Sharpe. “Dick’s experience and dynamism is exactly what we require and I am excited about what the future holds for soccer in Canada.”

Bate, 59, is currently employed with The Football Association (England) as a staff coach and has had over 30 years of high level coaching experience at both the club and national team levels. He has also conducted Education and Coaching Courses worldwide for FIFA, the Asian Football Federation (AFC), UEFA, and the FA’s of both England and Malaysia.

From 1992-1995, Bate held the post of Technical Director of the Football Association of Malaysia.

“I'm delighted to be joining the Canadian Soccer Association and am looking forward to working with everyone at the CSA,” said Bate from his home in Herefordshire, UK.

“It seems as if there is a passion and optimism about the future of the game in Canada and there are a series of exciting and significant initiatives taking place in the next few years that could raise the horizons and expectations of soccer in the country.”

Bate’s principal responsibility will involve the overall development and direction of the CSA’s technical programs. This will include both Player and Coaching Development, the direction and supervision of the National Training Centres and the National Youth Teams, both male and female.

In addition to working closely with all of the Provincial Technical Director’s and staff, Bate will also liaise with the National Team head coaches.

“I hope to play a successful and central role in the future of the game alongside the many others involved in the technical developmental areas and anticipate taking up my duties within the next few weeks."

The affable Englishman will get his first look at some of the future faces of Canadian soccer in mid-October when he plans on joining Dale Mitchell’s U20 National Team (1987) during its training camp in Manchester, UK.

FIFA – Education and Development Courses Conducted

1993
AFC 5th Coaching School – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
1995
Asian Coaching School – Bahrain (AFC)
Senior Coaches Course – Iran (AFC)
1996
Senior Coaches Course Oman
Olympic Solidarity Course – Guyana South America
Olympic Solidarity Course – Zimbabwe
1997
Olympic Solidarity Course – Romania

COACHING QUALIFICATIONS

1973 - UEFA ‘A’ Licence
2002 - UEFA Professional Licence
2001 - FA Academy Directors Licence
2000 - FA Youth Coaches Award

COACHING EXPERIENCE

Education & Development

1993/94/95/96 - FIFA Course Instructor
1993/94/95/96 - AFC Course Instructor
1992-1995 - Football Association of Malaysia, Technical Director
1980-1985 - Football Association North West Regional FA, Staff Coach

TEAM COACHING EXPERIENCE

1998-2005 - Head Coach, England (U16, U17, U18, U19, U20)
2003
<2nd place - Meridien Cup, Egypt

2002
<3rd place - UEFA U17 Championships
2001
<4th place - UEFA U17 Championships
2000

2001

1995-1997 - Coach, Hereford United FC
1992-1995 - Technical Director, FA Malaysia
1993-1994 - U23 Team Coach, Malaysia
1988-1992 - Coach, Leeds United FC
1987 - Manager, Southend United FC
1985-1987 - Chief Coach, Notts County FC
1985 - Assistant Coach, England Youth Team
- Assistant Coach, England U16 National Team
1982-1983 - Coach, England FA XI
1978-1980 - Youth Coach, Sheffield United FC

SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE

1999 - Publication of: The Sweeper and Coaching Advanced Soccer Players
1998 onwards - Production of UEFA ‘A’ licence course for FA England
1993 - Production of Complete National Coaching Syllabus for FA Malaysia
- National Coaching Scheme – ‘C’, ‘B’, ‘A’ Licence Awards
1984 - Revision of FA England Preliminary Coaching Award
1995 - Production of AFC ‘C’ Licence Coaching Manual & ‘B’ Licence Coaching Award
1985 - Production of Research Paper for FA England: Football in Schools
1993 - Production of Report Document for FA Malaysia: The Next Football Step – Malaysia
1992 - Production of Report Document for ‘European Championships for FA Malaysia ‘European Championships 1992”
1992-1995 - Production of Coaching Magazine for Malaysian Football ‘Coach’
1993 - Formation of National Coaches Association Malaysia
1993 - Publication of Book: Coaches Handbook
1988 - Presentation of Paper at World Congress on Science & Football, Liverpool Match Analysis
1996 - Contributor to Book ‘Science & Soccer’ published February

[Joe MacCarthy]

Bate joins CSA
By NEIL DAVIDSON

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2005/09/22/1230900-cp.html

TORONTO (CP) - Dick Bate helped shepherd Wayne Rooney, Jermaine Jenas, Jermaine Pennant, Glen Johnson and James Milner through the English national youth team system.

Now the 59-year-old English native is turning his attentions to Canada in his new role as technical director of the Canadian Soccer Association.

It's a daunting task - fixing soccer's framework in a country whose national men's team is ranked 84th in the world and where there is no top-flight pro league.

So why leave a soccer hotbed for a country where hockey is king?

"It's a challenge for sure," Bate said Thursday from England. "But it's a welcome challenge, a different challenge.

"You can get involved in England, you can get engrossed in what goes on in England to the detriment of not seeing other things in the world."

And Bate believes Canada can progress in the next few years.

"There are some countries that you look at, where you think 'well they've got no chance of making any progress,"' he said. "I think Canada has."

Bate notes Canada has a full complement of international youth teams, is taking part in CONCACAF and World Cup qualifying competition and is looking to enlarge its domestic club scene.

"So why not come to a country that has enough players playing the game to do reasonably well?" he asked. "When you think of countries like Norway that have lesser populations . .. and they've done well, there's no reason why Canada couldn't do it and I think that will be part of the challenge."

It's that kind of plain speaking - and a long, impressive resume - that won over CSA president Andy Sharpe. He's over the moon at snagging Bate.

The CSA narrowed its search down to six candidates -all foreigners - and then whittled the list down to two. Interviews were conducted earlier this year at the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

Bate will work with Canadian men's coach Frank Yallop and women's coach Even Pellerud.

Bate takes up his position next month and Sharpe says he will have free rein. Sharpe believes he should "start from scratch," with a major order of business to reorganize national training centres across the country - centres that Sharpe acknowledges are currently "hit or miss."

Bate's first love is coaching, but he is clearly an expert at teaching coaches. Earlier this year he served as director of England's Football Association's UEFA Pro Licence course at Warwick University with a host of Premiership mangers enrolled.

The Canadian job has been vacant since Holger Osieck resigned in September 2003. Osieck was both men's head coach and technical director. Yallop subsequently took over as coach.

So-called blueprints for success were issued during Osieck's tenure. More are needed, it appears.

Bate is no stranger to running the show. He was technical director of the Football Association of Malaysia from 1992 to 1995.

He has run coaching courses from Bahrain to Zimbabwe. He coached the Malaysian national and under-23 teams and served as coach or assistant coach at England's Hereford United, Leeds United and Notts County. He briefly served as manager of Southend FC in 1987, joining the likes of Booby Moore and Peter Taylor at running the team known as the Shrimpers.

Most recently, from 1998-2005, he has been head coach of England youth teams, running the gamut from under-16 to under-20.

Bate coached Rooney, first seeing him when he was coach of the under-17 team and Rooney was a member of the under-16 squad.

"He was always well-equipped in every respect," Bate said of Rooney, now a star with England and Manchester United. "Certainly physically well-equipped. he's athletic and he's got an excellent physique.

"He's come on technically very quickly in the last two or three years."

Bate says Rooney has always been a "catalyst" who "scored goals, scored important goals and made important contributions on and off the pitch."

A former defender, the six-foot-three Bates spent time as a youth player at Sheffield Wednesday and pro at York City. He then went to university but kept playing soccer at smaller clubs.

A former schoolteacher, he eventually worked his way into professional soccer as a coach and over his career has linked up several times with Howard Wilkinson, formerly a club manager, technical director of the Football Association and interim England manager.

Bate has limited experience in women's soccer but did serve as interim coach of the England's women's team for three games before the current manager was appointed.

His new title may be technical director, but he makes no bones about his love for coaching.

"I've always done both," he said. "Don't get the idea I'm a desk man . . . I'm not. I'm very much a touchline man, always have been and always will be.

"But the nature of my employment from time to time has taken me to work with coaches, which I'm more than happy to do."

Bate officially starts his new job Oct. 15, linking up with coach Dale Mitchell's under-20 side at a training camp in Manchester, England. He is slated to head to Canada on Oct. 20.

Bate's contract in Canada runs through 2009. He has yet to decide on the location of his home base over here.

Notes: Sharpe says eventually he would like to see Bate add coaching one of the national youth teams to his duties. The CSA president also dismissed rumours that Yallop may be headed back to the MLS as a head coach, saying "they're just that - rumours."

[Joe MacCarthy]

CSA TD Richard Bate's slide presentation (pdf) to the Alberta Soccer Association can be found here.

http://www.albertasoccer.com/info/files/Players_Coaches/Canada%20the%20Game%202-%20Dick%20Bate.pdf

Here are some concepts Bate is proposing for Canada.

CONCEPT CANADA
An efficient, economical, measured, possession-based attacking strategy where pass quality, intelligent and timely support and movement, lead to penetration across the width of the field to provide goal-scoring opportunities if appropriate counter-attacking possibilities are denied.

TEAM CHARACTERISTICS
Fluent playing style based on “possession philosophy”
Controlled possession “mentality”
Can counterattack rapidly as appropriate
Ability to vary ball speed as appropriate
Calculated and clinical forward passing teams
Understands the creation and use of “space” at the highest level
Can support and interchange effectively
All players are technically efficient and adaptable
Has a clear understanding of the team’s game style and plans
Can penetrate across all fronts in the A 1/3 rd
Can win games in “different” ways if necessary
Operates from the principles of play
Can adapt to the opponent's game style and attributes
Has varied defensive tactics and strategies
Plays to win by scoring as many goals as possible
Concedes the absolute minimum of goals in every season (Champions!)

[Joe MacCarthy]

Canadian soccer technical director says challenges abound in the game here
Feb. 14, 2006. 04:40 PM
NEIL DAVIDSON
The Canadian Press
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1139920816781&call_pageid=1044529386722

Richard Bate says he lives 37,000 feet above Canada these days, criss-crossing the country as he learns about Canadian soccer.

Four months into his job as technical director of the Canadian Soccer Association, the English native now knows what he sees when he looks down.

"It's a massive challenge because there's so much coming at you,'' Bate said in an interview Tuesday from Ottawa.

"There's a lot to do,'' he added. ``There's a lot of very enthusiastic, very willing people working in the game. Many wishing it was different. Not having the staff or the authority to change things. That's a first impression.

"It seems to be very fragmented. ... Nothing particularly universally co-ordinated.''

That will be one of Bate's challenges. He is finding out others as he travels.

Bate has already had a chance to see some of Canada's talent in action. He saw the men's under-20 team at a camp in Manchester in October, watched the senior men's side beat Luxembourg 1-0 in November and saw the women's under-20 team in January at a CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Mexico.

Bate, who was in Ottawa on Tuesday for a coaching workshop, is a hands-on teacher and comes ready equipped with a soccer philosophy: it's clear he wants Canadian teams to play a fluent style based on "possession philosophy.''

They need to be adaptable, creative and able to win games in different ways,

To illustrate the point, he uses a quote from star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy sounding off during a poor Manchester United patch.

"We have trouble keeping the ball, have no fluency in our passing and no flow of attacks,'' van Nistelrooy said. ``There are no crosses coming in and we don't win the second balls. As a result we can't maintain any pressure.''

Reverse that statement and you have successful soccer Bate-style.

He envisions the CSA with a national coaching style, as successful clubs around the globe do. Manager Arsene Wenger, for example, preaches the same philosophy at every level at England's Arsenal, so players know their role as they move up the ranks.

"If you look at the successful teams in the world, they all seem to have a very strong identity and a very firm playing philosophy to which they adhere,'' Bate said. ``If you look at Brazil, they've got their way. Holland have got their way, Germany have got their way. And I think it would be advantageous if Canada took that on board.''

And Bate says his goals are realistic, especially in developing young talent.

"We're not talking about playing Brazilian football or talking about playing like Argentina, we're just talking about playing sensitive, efficient football that would help us to play better.

Goals include providing more challenging games for younger players.

"You can go anywhere in Europe and you'll find that the best players are working in the best clubs and they've got a very, very intense playing program. Now over here that is a problem.''

A limited pro setup is at the root of that problem but Bate says Canada's national training centres can fill the void by providing a more challenging game program.

Lack of top-quality matches for young talent is just one of the issues facing the sport in Canada. Climate, facilities — ``there's all sort of problems,'' Bate says.

Fly into Amsterdam, he notes, ``and you can see nothing but soccer pitches.

"You fly in over Toronto airport and you can't find one.''

More coaches and better coaches are needed throughout the system. Some hard decisions, Bate seems to suggest, will have to be made by the CSA's top echelon.
"How we do it is really down to the politicians. I can make my recommendation but they eventually have to decide how to choose to organize the game.''

Bate, 59, came to Canada after serving as a staff coach with England's Football Association. While with the FA, he coached several England youth teams. He has also served as technical director of the Football Association of Malaysia.

The job of technical director in Canada had been vacant since World Cup head coach Holger Osieck, who held both titles, left in September 2003. Frank Yallop took over as head coach in December 2003.

[Joe MacCarthy]

News Thursday, July 13, 2006
Bate Resigns from Association
http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2477

Ottawa, Ontario – The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) has accepted the resignation of Technical Director, Richard Bate, effective immediately. Bate has accepted the Technical Director's position with newly promoted English Premiership side Watford Football Club, where he is expected to oversee the club’s technical programs.

"It has been a real pleasure for me to have been here in Canada for the past 10 months as the country's Technical Director," said Bate. "I have travelled from coast to coast, met many fine people in the short time I have been here, and have commenced many new technical initiatives which I believe will have a lasting and positive benefit for soccer in Canada."

"When I first came to Canada last summer, I honestly felt that a return to the Premiership was not going to happen. Obviously, I was wrong and to have this opportunity occur at this stage in my career is one I could not afford to pass on. I very much regret leaving Canada under these most unusual circumstances but at the same time, I am happy with what was accomplished and what is being left behind and certainly appreciate the CSA allowing me to be released from this agreement so that I can finish my career in the Premiership."

The CSA granted Mr. Bate permission to be released from his contract at the request of Mr. Bate. The CSA expresses its disappointment with Mr. Bate's decision but will now focus its attention toward finding a suitable candidate to lead the overall development and direction of the CSA’s technical programs – including player and coaching development, the direction and supervision of the National Training Centres and the National Youth Teams, both male and female. The search for Bate's successor will commence immediately.