Joyous FC Coaching Staff
Kozo Manome - Head Coach & Owner
Kozo is the owner and head coach of Joyous FC. In the winter of 2005, Kozo retired from his semi-professional career in Japan and had moved to Vancouver in 2006. He started playing soccer again in 2008 to help learn English and to meet new people. Kozo played across several top flight teams in Vancouver but realized there were very few Japanese players or a Japanese team. Kozo wanted to build a team where local Japanese players could play at a top level. From there Kozo created a team Japan and Joyous Soccer as an academy to feed into the men's team. 10 years since the creation of the academy, youths that have been participating since they were the age of 3 were able to contribute to Team Japan winning the 2021 Kelme Cup along with both winning the Knight League and Kelme Cup in 2022. In 2017 the academy rebranded to Joyous FC and in more recent years, has brought in 4 very experienced coaches : Taizan, Naoya, Tyler, and Kota. Our academy focuses on developing Japanese players who can play at a professional or university level while the men's team goal is to win the nations cup and a Canadian club national title. We envision to be a club that not only helps to develop top players but also on that helps to contribute to the local Japanese community. Playing Experience Semi-Pro in Japan 2008-2010 Vancouver Olympics (VMSL Div 1) 2011-2017 Columbus FC (VMSL Premier) Playing Awards 2011-2012 BC Provincial Finalists 2013 VMSL Premier Champions 2010,2011 VMSL Premier All Star 2010-2011 Columbus Rookie of the Year Coaching Experience 2009-Current Joyous FC 2012-Current Team Japan 2018-2019 Columbus FC VMSL Div 1 2019-2020 Columbus FC VMSL Premier Team Awards 2021,2022 Kelme Cup Champion (Team Japan) 2022 Knight League Premier Champion (Joyous FC) |
Taizan Makimoto - Technical Director
Taizan is our technical director at Joyous FC. He draws upon his professional career to help promote a very techinical Japanese brand of soccer here in Vancouver. Through analysing each of the players he coaches, he comes up with a unique training approach to each player based on their playing style and their strengths and weaknesses. Instead of just providing answers to the players, by providing hints and pushing them in the right direction, we allow them to breakdown situations on their own and help to develop their critical thinking processes. One of his main goals at Joyous is to not only develop fundamentally sound soccer players but to also help with their personal development off the field. Playing Experience 2001-2003 Shonan High School (Japan) 2004-2005 Kyoto Sanga FC (J-League) 2005-2006 Ehime FC (J-League) 2006-2009 Miyazaki Sangyo Keiei University Coaching Experience 2018-2019 KLM Soccer Club 2019-Current Taizan Soccer Academy 2021-Current Joyous FC 2021-Current Pacific Mustangs Sports Canada |
Naoya Inoue - Coach & Fitness Trainer
Naoya combines his extensive playing knowledge along with his personal training background into his coaching approach. Having playing experience both in Japan and Canada, he is able to guide players on how to play against more physical opponents. He enjoys coaching players on body control, positioning, and dribbling. He hopes to be able to teach the players on the skills and playstyles of Japanese soccer. Playing Experience Seibudai High School (Japan) Columbus FC (VMSL Premier/Div 1) Joyous FC Coaching Experience Joyous FC Personal Training Certificates -Certified Personal Trainer (BCRPA – BC Recreation and Parks Association) -Certified Weight Training Instructor (BCRPA – BC Recreation and Parks Association) -Youth Exercise Specialization (NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine) -Stretching and Flexibility Coach (NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine) -Virtual Coaching (NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine) -Emergency First Aid & CPR/AED level C |
Tyler Mertens - Coach
Tyler has extensive soccer experience and has played at the highest level from youth to adult soccer. He was selected for the BC provincial team (4years), NTC West (National Training Center), and the Whitecaps residency program. He then went on to play soccer at UBC where he won rookie of the year and captured back to back national championships. As a coach, he enjoys teaching the fundamentals of defending and to show the benefits of having a good defensive skill set. Tyler has also obtained his Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1 and runs his sessions in both English and Japanese. Playing Experience BC Provincial Team (4 Years) NTC West (4 Years) Whitecaps Residency (2 Years) Metro Ford BCSPL UBC Men's Varsity (5 Years) Individual Awards UBC Men's Rookie of the Year Academic All Canadian x3 Canada West First Team All Star Team Awards 2012,2013 National Championships (UBC) |
Kota Kudo - Coach
Kota brings excellent technical experience having played in professional academies in Japan and also representing Toyama prefecture. He is a magician on the ball and also runs a separate dribbling class for those looking to improve their footwork. He excels in coaching on dribbling and footwork and preaches to his players to take good care of the ball at their feet. Playing Experience Kataller Toyama U18 (J-League) Toyama Prefecture Team (Japan) Joyous FC Coaching Experience Taizan Soccer Academy Joyous FC |
