Mike McKenna - Academy Coach

• British Football Academy Tokyo - Coach
• English FA Level 1 Qualified Coach
• Tokyo Hibernian FC - Player

Birmingham City supporting Mike is an instantly like-able straight talker who wears his heart on his sleeve. He brings the same commitment and passion to coaching as he does to playing(which, if any one who has seen him play will attest, is not inconsiderable!). His enthusiasm and strong work ethic-if something's worth doing, it's worth doing right-can't help but rub off on the kids under his guidance and means that they are sure to make the most of their abilities.

Perhaps surprisingly for a centre half Mike cites Zinedine Zidane as his favourite player, describing the three times F.I.F.A world player of the year as 'the greatest play maker ever'. Armed with this knowledge it should come as no surprise to find out that Mike is equally adept at bringing the ball out of defence (similar to a latter day Brummie Beckenbauer) as he is at dealing with the nitty gritty duties of a defender. In Japan he has captained Tokyo Hibernians to a number of successes, most notably back to back TML titles in 2010 and 2011.

Mike's love of both sides of the game-the graft and the beauty-infuse his coaching philosophy. The twin themes run through his sessions as he coaxes and encourages his players to be the best they can be. His success can be seen in the beaming smiles of the children in his sessions.