Futsal Courses for Coaches, Referees set for Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba

As part of the FIFA GOAL Programme in the CONCACAF region, the Port of Spain Development Office will host two historic futsal courses, for Coaches and Referees, over the coming weeks in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago from 22-27 September and La Habana, Cuba from 6-11 October.

These are the first futsal courses to be organized by FIFA in the Caribbean region as the first one will take place at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad as thirty-one coaches and referees from fifteen English and Dutch speaking Caribbean National Associations participate in this course, which will be delivered by FIFA instructors Nico Spreij (Coaching) and Perry Gautier Refereeing).

The second course will be held in La Habana, Cuba with over forty coaches and referees from the host country, along with Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico attendees. The FIFA instructors in Cuba will be Jose Venancio Lopez and Carlos Quiros (Coaching) and Pedro Galan Refereeing).

CONCACAF has staged two Futsal qualifiers for the FIFA World Championships in 1996 and 2000. Six teams participated in 1996 CONCACAF event in Guatemala that was won by the USA, while eight squads took part in the 2000 competition in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host. Cuba finished second in both tournaments.

Futsal is an established sport in certain Caribbean countries, particularly in the Dutch and Spanish speaking nations, Aruba, Cuba, Netherlands Antilles and Suriname among them. Cuba, in particular, has a vibrant national association programme. Nonetheless, the traditional eleven-a-side game dominates Caribbean shores. Among the English speaking nations, in particular, although five-a-side (and other small-sided football) is a popular playground game, futsal is yet to gain a foothold as an official national association programme.

The prime objectives of the two courses are:

1) Over the long term, to promote the establishment of national association futsal programmes throughout the Caribbean and the region

2) To increase the number of Caribbean national associations participating in the 2004 CONCACAF qualification tournament slated for Guatemala next year, where two for FIFA’s 2004 World Championship to be held in Chinese Taipei.

FIFA and adidas have provided significant equipment and educational material for these courses, which will focus on:

1) The development of the game to the present
2) The role of the coach
3) Futsal coaching at different levels – youth, women and professional
4) Technical and tactical training
5) Match and tournament analysis
6) The laws of the game

The participating national associations and their representatives in the Port of Spain course are:

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
REPRESENTATIVE

Anguilla
Iston Benjamin
Allan Carty

Bermuda
Aldwin Savery
Kenneth Thompson

British Virgin Islands
Elroy Mills

Cayman Islands
Mark Campbell

Dominica
Ibrahim Brohim

Grenada
Andrew Munro
Ernest Richardson

Guyana
Collin Aaron

Jamaica
Wendell Downswell
Clayton Solomon

Netherlands Antilles
Kenneth Bemabela
Chumey Bomba
Jubilan Martis
Luthson Reenis
Wilfried Rondei
Liserio Winklaar

Suriname
Jeffrey Sweet
Stanley Lamsberg

St. Kitts & Nevis
Jeffrey Davis-Hazel
Stewart Rawlins

Trinidad & Tobago
Ian Cruickshank
Merere Gonzales
Timothy Rochford
Anderson Veronique

Turks & Caicos Islands
Alessio Girotti

US Virgin Islands
Collister Fahie
Dennis Gustav
Francisco Ramirez
Felix St. Rose

The complete list of representatives in La Habana course is still to be confirmed but the participating national associations are Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.