Heena Ahmed Saleem, (Boduheena) who was recently engaged in the administrative running of the nation's sports sector has assumed his coaching hat once more and reentered the field of refereeing and coaching.
Former football coach and referee, Heena Ahmed Saleem, (Bodu Heena) who was recently engaged in the administrative running of the nation's sports sector has reentered the field and assumed his coaching hat once more.
Heena, who was primarily involved in the inception of Club Valencia and gathered several triumphs for the club has now returned to the scene to assume the position of head coach at its academy.
The accomplished coach had also attempted to secure a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ticket to contest in the parliamentary election held earlier in April. He was however, unsuccessful and crashed out during the MDP primaries.
Heena had founded a sports academy under the name Early Touch Football Academy (ETFA) and produced countless footballers during his time running the academy as head coach. He was active at the academy for a period of twelve years and contributed substantially to its current status as one of the largest football academies in the nation.
Despite reentering the pitch after a long hiatus, he has not found himself facing any major difficulties thus far, Heena assured.
"I was away from football coaching for a period of four and a half years. It is not too hard to form a team and work at an academy even after that," said Heena.
Heena's Academy, ETFA is currently based in Meedhoo, Addu City, the southernmost atoll in the nation.
While Heena performs as head coach at the Valencia Academy in Hulhumale', the Male' Academy will be headed by the former footballer, Yoosuf Azeem (Youtte).
Heena disclosed that the academy located in Hulhumale aims to focus mainly on children who reside in the district.
Academy trainings in Hulhumale' are carried out at the Mini Turf (Futsal) Complex near Treetop Hospital.
As trainings are held in a pitch of that size, the academy will prioritize children below 13 years of age for their training services, Coach Heena elaborated.
"Will be focusing mainly on children between Grades 1 to 5." he said.
In addition to representing the country at an international standard as part of the national team in various categories of sports such as football, badminton and athletics, Heena has also performed as a coach and referee at a national level. He had secured the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for Valencia and also claimed the POMIS Cup for New Radiant Sports Club before assuming positions at Ameer Ahmed School and the Youth Sports Club afterwards.
Captain Assad Abdul Ghanee and Forward Ali Umar who were part of the Maldivian National Team that clinched the 2008 SAFF Championship hosted in Male', Maldives and Colombo, Sri Lanka were also footballers trained and dispatched to the professional grounds by Coach Heena.
Entry applications into the Valencia Academy has now been extended for those seeking to receive football guidance under Heena. Valencia had requested aspiring footballers to reach out to Coach Heena via the number, +960 7971960 to gain membership at the academy.
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