COACHES from across the island completed a comprehensive course in pursuit of a C License Certificate geared to help them better develop their technical competences.
A group of 22 coaches went through an extensive training regime on a way to achieving the status of Technical Directors, through a workshop organized by the Saint Lucia Football Association [SLFA] Inc. and facilitated by technical officers from CONCACAF.
The course was approved by CONCACAF in an effort to upgrade the Technical Directors of the member affiliates and to prepare the coaches for further specialized training. The continuation of the certification of coaches is part of the CONCACAF Convention and the SLFA’s vision is to provide each club with at least two C License Certified Coaches by year end.
An SLFA official noted that it will be mandatory for district league coaches to be in possession of a C’ License Certificate for the upcoming Island Cup competition.
During an official Presentation of Certificates, Thursday, SLFA’s General Secretary Victor Reid explained that the course was specifically designed to elevate the standards of the technical director from the respective leagues.
“We believe that for us to go to another level of development…the leagues must become more professional as to how they approach the game,” declared Reid.
He said that for the past five years, or so, the SLFA has been pushing the issue of administration, meaning that the leagues have to operate at a different level, a professional level, for club and league football to develop to the highest level possible.
Reid noted that over the years, the SLFA has invested heavily in coaching programmes, particularly in the D License course and is currently embarking on the C’License level.
“But for all those things to come together as a whole, and to be more strategic there needs to be somebody who can guide the league in how we develop certain programmes, so as to help the leagues become more strategic and in how they develop football,” he added.
“There must be somebody that has control of the programme and can advise, and devise the strategies that the league would need to bring the game to a higher level,” Reid said.
The SLFA official stated that for Saint Lucia to keep up with growing developmental trend in regional football circles and to maintain that standard “the leagues must operate at a different level now. To get players that can fit into the international scope of things, the leagues are the ones to produce those players and the coaches are pivotal in terms of developing that strategy and developing the players”.
“So, the technical director is really crucial …in developing football and continue the development of football at the national level, at the league level and at the international level,” noted Reid.
He recommended that technical directors need to be “very pro-active” with their approach and “to ensure that the clubs and the coaches in the league understand their role and their function…and to develop a collaboration between them to put a plan together to develop football at the league level.”
Reid explained that the SLFA allocates the sum of $20,000 annually to each league affiliate “to develop coaching programmes within the district” and that it is a worthwhile investment towards the overall development of football on the island.
CONCACAF Coaching Instructor / Trainer Lenny Lake underlined three basic aspects needed to change the scope of football in a country, notably coaching, competitions and commitment.
Expounding on these pointers, he said, coaching is one of the strongest factors, since “a player is the representation of the knowledge that he or she gets from the people or coaches that impact that knowledge”.
Lake noted that the coaches’ job is no easy task, but “it is a sacrifice …and a sacrifice for you to ensure that players at the end become better than who they (were) when they started.”
He stated that the coaches role goes beyond the activities on the playing field, because “you are not coaching just the player, but you are actually coaching for life.”
Andre Waugh, CONCACAF Development Manager acknowledged the commitment of the SLFA’s management for its persistence in seeking out ways to help develop the sport on island. He said CONCACAF endorses the SLFA’s commitment towards the development of the sport.
He stressed the importance of providing access to “quality education” for coaches, since according to him “my whole view of education is that education should be for the people”.
Waugh said there should be an equilibrium within the level of coaches participating in regional tournaments. “We want to provide access to quality education to all our coaches at all levels, from grassroots up to the professional level,” he explained. “And that is what the CONCACAF Project Convention aims to do, to provide access to countries like these, including Saint Lucia.”
Notwithstanding, he asserted, coaches must continue to aspire for higher levels and to ultimately qualify for the higher ranks.
Added Waugh: “The C’ License that you have completed is the beginning of the pyramid …and the C’ License is designed to provide head coaches with the tools to coach at the most basic of levels, the grassroots level.”