Local coaches recently completed the C License Course as the Saint Lucia Football Association [SLFA] Inc. moves to upgrade the capabilities of the island’s football coaches.
The course was held at the SLFA’s base, La Clery, from December 15 to 18 and catered for Head Coaches of the District Teams, as well as clubs in Div. I and II.
Special accommodation was provided for coaches involved in the SLFA’s Elite Zonal Centres.
Underlining the significance of the course, an SLFA spokesperson stated that the exercise will allow CONCACAF to determine whether Saint Lucia is ready to host its own C-LICENCE Coaching Course.
Notably, two of the SLFA’s Coach Educators, Technical Director Ces Podd and Head of Coach Education Emmanuel Bellas, recently attended the 1st CONCACAF Coach Education Conference, held from December 12 to13, in Miami.
The conference focused specifically on the preparedness of the Member Associations to sign onto the Coaching Convention.
To date, Saint Lucia has six Coach Educators and they were all involved in the delivery of the Course. The coach educators are Ces Podd, Solomon Alexander, Emmanuel Bellas, Sabbatus Hunte, Terrance Caroo and John Sealy.
Addressing the participants, last weekend, CONCACAF representative and coach education facilitator Lenny Lake acknowledged the input from the SLFA’s management and staff towards the overall development of the ‘beautiful game’ on the island. He singled out SLFA’s President Lyndon Cooper’s “passion” for the game and his drive and determination to move the sport forward.
“Ten years ago, we entered into the journey of coaching education …and we thought that Concacaf was at the point to begin to develop their own coaches and to advance football, and to improve the coaching education in the Caribbean,” said Lake.
Another CONCACAF course facilitator noted that, “Coach education for us, is a critical pillar of the development of the game…and the game begins with education.”
He recalled that the recent Miami conference brought together more than 120 “technical leaders” from the region to discuss “coach education and the way forward with coach education.”
The CONCACAF representative explained that the qualifications acquired from this course, can be utilized “across borders and once it meets the standards it will be recognized right across the Federation.”
Cooper declared that in order to progress as a small nation in the confederation, the focus must be on “empowering people.”
He said the SLFA has been able to position itself in such a way “that we can have the facilitators within a period of 12 months, to be here at latest four times”.
Added Cooper: “This is a clear indication that CONCACAF has supported its 41 members, including Saint Lucia.”
The SLFA president recalled that the ‘coaching journey’ began about 10 to 15 years ago, when Concacaf requested that qualified coaches should be included in the respective Under-15 National team setups.
The journey began with coaches attaining the D License Coaching certificate, which has resulted in at least 200 qualified coaches on the island. He added, “With anxiety and haste we began to quickly move from D to C …and we may have in excess of 75 coaches with C qualification.”
Cooper said the “next mission” is to have B’ License qualified coaches on the island.
Towards achieving that goal, he said, there needs to be an additional five coach educators or more to take on the task.
Meanwhile, matches continued in the SLFA Inc. Island Cup, last week.
In a Super Cup match at the Micoud Playing Field; Anse La Raye defeated Mon Repos 6 – 0. Goal scorers for the west-coast side were Mc Arthur Louise in the 14th, 20th, 26th & 31st, minutes, Javon Wilson 58th minute and Shanic John 64th minute.