Prospective licensed football coaches get additional pointers

The 38 local coaches who were part of a CONCACAF D licensed certificate course have been given a set of additional pointers to take with them.{{more}}

Speaking at the evaluation session last Sunday at the Media Centre at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, one of the course facilitators, Kittian Lenny Lake, asked the participants to get back to their communities and work with the youngsters there.

“…You did not come here to be kings and queens, but to be coaches … You are to develop the next generation of great players for St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Lake advised forcefully.

He said this, speaking against the background that he has conducted previous certification courses in his native St Kitts and Nevis, and several of the candidates have become inactive since receiving their certification.

Additionally, Lake implored the local coaches to be committed in their efforts to impart knowledge of the sport to the Vincentian football populace.

He also told the coaches that it was pointless if, following the course, they become aliens to one another; hence he called on them to pool their talents and share their ideas as a collective body.

Most significantly, Lake requested of the coaches: “You need to work on your attitude and behaviour as coaches.”

It was evident that the facilitators were not impressed with the attitudes and body language of some of the coaches, at least during Saturday’s practical sessions.

The other facilitator present on that day, Ettiene Siliee of the Netherland Antilles, openly showed his disapproval with the coaches’ demeanour.

The course, which opened last Thursday and which was formally opened by CONCACAF’s president Jeffrey Webb, covered areas such as the principles of coaching, the adequate training by age, the fundamentals of planning training sessions, physical training, health and security, the organization and implementation of appropriate session plans, development of community clubs, among other components of coaching football.

Among the coaches who saw the four days well spent was Wayde Jackson, head coach of the Layou football team.

“The course was excellent…. I have learnt so much…. I have been involved in coaching for some time and have been going to courses for the past eight years now, but this one has been priceless….This one has touched me most, as it brought out some of my weaknesses as a coach….This is what this course has done for me and for us…” Jackson noted.

Meanwhile, former national player, Kenlyn Gonsalves, assessed: “It was a good course; very intense, as it involved taking in a lot of information and processing it within four days.”

Apart from practical sessions, the prospective licensed coaches were required to sit a written exam.

The successful coaches would qualify to teach youngsters in the basics of the sport.

Lake hinted at last Sunday’s evaluation exercise that some were already unsuccessful, but extended a window of opportunity to get certified.

The participants, who were unsuccessful in the practical, theory or orals, would have re-sit that segment under the supervision of the technical director Keith Ollivierre.

This would be up to the end of July this year in the practical segment and the others during the month of August, all overseen by Ollivierre.

Lake said that the prospective licensed coaches would be aided by video clippings, as well as pictures, which would be sent to the facilitators for their assessment.

The new licensing system, designed and executed by CONCACAF’s Development Office and funded by the Confederation as part of its ongoing commitment to the growth of the sport, will provide coaches from across the region with a valuable, internationally recognised licence, as well as the tools to impart that knowledge at the local level.

The licensing system, which was unveiled in 2013, has already been administered in Mexico, Grenada, Aruba, the Cayman Islands and St Kitts and Nevis.(RT)