SVG to be part of CONCACAF’s Grassroots Football pilot project

St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is among four other Caribbean countries fingered to carry out a CONCACAF pilot project, involving five primary schools across the mainland.

 Set for commencement on April 4 this year, the project involves four schools – the Kingstown Preparatory, Georgetown Government, Lowmans Leeward Anglican and Barrouallie Government.

Netting 100 students, 25 each from the four schools, the programme runs over an eight-week period, with one hour sessions twice per week, allocated to the four institutions.

 Also during the period April 12 to 14, St Vincent and the Grenadines will host Coach Educator Training, with the regional confederation providing the facilitators.

 Appointed to co-ordinate the St Vincent and the Grenadines leg of the project is Theon Gordon.

A physical education teacher attached to the Bethel High School, Gordon, a former St Vincent and the Grenadines senior football team captain and manager, impressed CONCACAF personnel when he attended a Train the Trainers workshop last November in Barbados.

The pilot project for St Vincent and the Grenadines tuned up last Tuesday, when the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) hosted a discussion at its conference room with local stakeholders on the matters concerning the CONCACAF Grassroots Football and Education programme.

Fleshing out the programme were Jason Roberts, CONCACAF’s director of development and Andre Waugh, the Caribbean Development manager for CONCACAF.

Waugh reinforced to stakeholders that the Grassroots Football and Education programme is not about winning, but it is about development of the players.

 “It is about preparing them for life,” Waugh underscored.

The announcement about the pilot grassroots football project in the primary schools comes on the heels of a similar programme, which was rolled out last month by former St Vincent and the Grenadines technical director and head coach Sammy Carrington.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that St Mary’s Roman Catholic, Kingstown Government and Kingstown Anglican schools kicked off his efforts.

Carrington also told SEARCHLIGHT that his programme has the blessing of the Ministry of Education and the verbal endorsement of the SVGFF.