Sport

Fifty invited to youth coaching course

By KWESI MUGISA, Staff Reporter

Crenston Boxhill - file

FIFTY OF THE island's top youth coaches have been invited by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to take part in a seminar held by National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) coaches Vince Ganzberg and Lee Mitchell from August 26-28 at the JFF offices and the National Stadium.

In an effort to facilitate the continued growth of local football from the basic level, the federation has not only decided to focus on the nurturing of the youth players but now also have an eye on the development of their coaches as a critical part of this process.

"We believe that if we are able to develop the coaches it will then help to develop the players," co-ordinator of the event, Vin Blaine, remarked.

On the heels of a fairly impressive showing at the recent Caribbean Football Union Youth Cup, where Jamaica's Under-15 team dominated its Caribbean counterparts but were knocked out 4-2 in the semi-finals by Canada, Blaine spoke of not only the need for an improvement to the current approach, but also the need for a unified one.

"The goal is to have all coaches at the youth level sort of develop the same philosophy on how we should coach the youngsters," he remarked.

Primary focus

President of the JFF, Crenston Boxhill, while pointing out that youth development was the primary focus of his administration, commended the Under-15 team for their performance at the Youth Cup and said there was more work to be done.

"At the international level the difference between our youngsters and the teams that do really well is not ability, it is preparation º... we have a lot of work to do on the tactical aspects of our game," he stated.

It is hoped that with informed coaching the youngsters will close the rift in terms of tactical superiority between the nation and some of CONCACAF's top teams.

In addition to the parish coaches and those selected by the JFF, an additional 25 coaches have also shown an interest in taking part in the seminars.