Wellington Phoenix men’s assistant coach Adam Griffiths has completed his AFC Professional Coaching Diploma, the highest level of coaching accreditation available in Asia.
Griffiths is the third Phoenix staff member to secure the coveted pro licence, joining men’s head coach Giancarlo Italiano and men’s reserves head coach Chris Greenacre.
And he will not be the last, with men’s head analyst Jordi Manning currently studying towards his AFC Pro Diploma, while women’s head coach Paul Temple and academy technical director Lee Padmore are on the OFC equivalent.
Griffiths joined the Phoenix at the beginning of last season and made an instant impact defensively as the team conceded a league-low 26 goals.
He had also coached the A-League’s tightest defence the previous season as an assistant at Western Sydney Wanderers.
Studying for the pro licence has been a long process, but a worthwhile one.
“I’ve worked on it for a whole year now, but it’s an entire part of my coaching career,” Griffiths said.
“You have to go and attend a course in Sydney a few times throughout the year, for a whole week at a time.
“There are a lot of different components that they put together to try and best prepare you for the opportunity to eventually become a head coach.”
The course has affirmed his coaching style while setting him up to develop even further.
“I found that the course is best utilised from a reflection perspective, to start to review yourself and then ask questions about potential other ways of doing things.
“That was the biggest takeaway I took from the course. I feel like I’m on the right track with what I’d been previously doing as a coach.”
After a decorated playing career, during which he played for clubs in Europe, Asia, and the A-League while representing Australia twice, Griffiths was not certain about his next steps.
“As a player, I had thought about coaching but didn’t know.
“I gave myself two avenues. One avenue was a tech business that I pursued, and the other avenue was to see whether I enjoyed coaching like I enjoyed playing football.
“Probably within the first two or three training sessions, you become obsessed.”
Griffiths had a spell as a head coach of National Premier Leagues NSW side Manly United before joining Western Sydney and has plans to eventually take charge of his own side again.
“Each year that passes, you learn something new, you try to continue to build a catalogue of ideas and thoughts for when eventually that opportunity comes.
“You take influences from multiple areas, then try to bring together all your own ideas and if it makes sense to you, then you implement them.
“There are a few coaches at different points of my learning as a coach who I admire.
“One name that comes to mind is Maurizio Sarri. I like Luciano Spalletti too. When I went from a player to a coach, I was watching a lot of Napoli and I stayed as a fan.
“I’m lucky enough that I’ve learnt a lot with ‘Chief’ (Giancarlo Italiano). He’s a real tactician, and that partnership has shown some reward to date.”
