FOLLOWING on the heels of a successful staging of its FIFA Women’s Coaching Course last week, the Saint Lucia Football Association is at it again, this time with its second ‘D’ License Course for 2017 for which 29 coaches have registered.
The course, which starts today and ends on Sunday, will take place at the SLFA’s new headquarters conference room at La Clery. The official opening ceremony starts at 10:00 a.m. with classes beginning at 9:00 a.m. daily.
SLFA General Secretary, Victor Reid, said the “D” License is a professional coaching certification programme in a range of similar courses administered by CONCACAF which include, but are not restricted to the following: the “C” License, “B” License, and the “A” License, among other higher grade courses.
The SLFA has run three such courses in Saint Lucia. However, while the course has been offered to football leagues in the past it, is now being offered to football clubs.
Reid said the “D” License is geared at providing coaches with the ability to analysed players, prepare a coaching programme for the team and successfully implement the thatprogramme.
The course ends with practical and oral examinations. Under normal circumstances, there is a US$200 fee for the course but the association has waived all registration fees as it encourages coaches and clubs to take full advantage of the course.
The association has taken a position that come January 1 next year, every football league and club must have a certified coach qualified to sit on the team’s bench during official championships.
SLFA President, Lyndon Cooper said, “What we want to achieve is to ensure all that have made the application for licensing can get their license. There is a checklist that they must comply with and that is their constitution: an executive and a senior and grassroots coach. That’s all the SLFA is asking for to ensure we achieve our long-term objective.”
