Kenichi Yatsuhashi (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 八橋健一

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

: Кеничи Ясухаши, born 6 February1969 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

) is a Japanese

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

who currently manages football club Angthong in the

Thai League 3 Thai League 3 or Thailand Regional Championship, commonly known as the T3, is the third level of Thai football league system, Thai football. It was started in 2017 First season. In 2017, the League is divided in 2 regions and participated by 32 ...

Western region.

Career

College and youth coaching career

Arriving at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in December 1988, he began coaching youth soccer teams: the Elmont Ravens girls' team, the Brooklyn Patriots boys' team, and the Gotham Girls Chargers team. Next, Yatsuhashi became coach of the BMCC men's soccer team where he served as the women's coach for 9 years and guided them to the NJCAA Division III nationals in 2004 and won third place plus six conference championships. Just after that, he was chosen coach of the

City University of New York Athletic Conference The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNY Athletic Conference or CUNYAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Its member institutions are all located in New York City and are campuses o ...

All-Star team which competed in the Goodwill South African Tour. His original reason for going to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was to study art. At one point, he could have become an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

citizen, but the paperwork and application fees amounted to over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1000 so he decided not to apply and has now expressed penitence for passing on the opportunity.

Africa and Asia

In 2012, Kenichi moved to

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

where he served as the Kyrgyzstan Football Federation technical director and Kyrgyzstan U16 coach. He has guided them during U16 AFC Qualifications and recorded 3–3 draw against Oman and lost to Qatar by 3–4. Announced as coach of Accra

Hearts of Oak Hearts most commonly refers to: * Hearts (card game), a trick-taking game * Hearts (suit), one of the standard four suits of cards * Heart, an organ Hearts may also refer to: Music * The Hearts, an American girl group closely related to the Jay ...

in November 2015, he was given a monthly salary of and became the first

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n to coach a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian team in the process. Almost immediately, he was criticized on account of his inexperience coaching professional teams. Eventually, he was fired as coach in June 2016 despite winning his first two games in charge and leading his team at the top or 2nd of the table. With

, he was known for making his team score mostly second-half goals. In addition to this, the club had a record of being unbeaten in 7 away games under Kenichi. Meanwhile, he had refuted claims that his team's good form was because of impermissible drugs, claiming that it was a result of hard work and training. Kenichi has ruled out a possible return to

amidst speculation. Ifeanyi Ubah F.C. discharged him of his duties in 2016. Thereupon, he was appointed coach of Cambodian Tiger FC in the

C-League The Cambodian Premier League ( km, លីគកំពូលកម្ពុជា, ) is the highest professional football division in Cambodia and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Cambodian League 2. Starting with the 2022 ...

in February 2017. Only three months after his arrival in 2017, Cambodian Tiger FC parted away with Kenichi; he has expressed desire to return to coaching in

and has hinted at a move to

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''Porcupine Warriors'', they compete in the Ghana Premier Lea ...

. On 28 December 2019, he was appointed coach of Lonestar Kashmir in the

I-League 2nd division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

Personal life

Living in

for 23 years, he sees it as his home even though he is ethnically

Licenses and certifications

*NSCAA Coach of the Year Award *AFC Pro License *USSF "A" License *USSF National Youth License *CONCACAF International Coaching License *FIFA Goalkeeping License *NSCAA Goalkeeping Diploma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yatsuhashi, Kenichi Japanese football managers Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Kyrgyzstan Expatriate football managers in Cambodia Expatriate football managers in Nigeria Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Japanese expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Ghana 1970 births Living people Aspire Academy managers Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. managers Angkor Tiger FC managers Ghana Premier League managers Expatriate football managers in Sri Lanka

Kenichi Yatsuhashi Kenichi Yatsuhashi ( Japanese: 八橋健一 Kyrgyz: Кеничи Ясухаши, born 6 February1969 in Japan) is a Japanese football manager who currently manages football club Angthong in the Thai League 3 Western region. Career Colleg ...

Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Sri Lanka