Futsal in the Caribbean was given a tremendous boost by the FIFA Coaches’ and Referees’ Courses held at the University of the West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, where a total of 31 participants took part in the seminars from 22-27 September.

Organized by the FIFA Development Office in Port of Spain, the Futsal Courses are the first-ever in the Caribbean region of CONCACAF. Another Futsal Course is scheduled for La Habana, Cuba from 6-11 October.

The Futsal Course in Trinidad & Tobago last week was delivered by FIFA instructors Nico Spreij of Holland (Coaching) and Perry Gautier of Belgium (Refereeing) and featured 17 coaches and 14 referees from 15 English and Dutch speaking Caribbean National Associations.

Futsal is steadily improving its global profile but in the Caribbean the growth of the game has been limited to the Dutch and Spanish speaking countries. Cuba, in particular, has a vibrant National Association programmes and has participated in the last two FIFA World Championships. Among the English speaking nations, however, Futsal is not yet a prominent sport.

The course programmes focused on technical, tactical training and laws of the game with the prime objectives to promote the establishment of National Association Futsal programmes throughout the Caribbean. Ultimately the aim is the region to increase the number of Caribbean national associations participating in the CONCACAF qualification tournament planned for Guatemala next year, where two teams will advance to the FIFA’s 2004 World Championship to be held in Chinese Taipei.

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 1996, while eight squads took part in the 2000 competition in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host. Cuba finished second in both tournaments.

The second FIFA GOAL Futsal Course next month in La Habana will be for Spanish speakers with coaches and referees from Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico due to attend.