From Fifa.com and Concacaf.com

Futsal spreads its wings in the Caribbean

17.10.03 - Futsal broke new ground in the Caribbean region at the end of September and the beginning of October when the first preliminary courses for coaches and referees were staged in Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba.
Between 22-27 September, 18 coaches and 14 referees from various National Associations came together at the FIFA Development Office in Port of Spain for five extremely profitable days of work.

Debut in Trinidad and Tobago

“The course had several goals; most importantly, we set out to convince participants of the need to promote working methods in their respective countries, as well as strengthening their ties with FIFA for the further develoment of Futsal,” said Belgian FIFA Futsal Referee Perry Gautier. “To do that, we discussed the work programme used in countries which perform well in the discipline, as well as providing participants with the necessary material: adidas kit, the official Laws of the Game and the coaching manual.”

“We were able to divide classes between theory and practice, thanks to the fact that the facilities at the CONCACAF Centre of Excellence and the pitches at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine were kindly made available to us”, explained Nico Spreij, a former Dutch national coach.

On the final day, a tournament in which all participants competed gave way to the closing ceremony, attended by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, as well as Goal Bureau member, Harold Taylor.

“The goal now is for the participants – many of whom had never taken part in this kind of event before – to return home and spread the word about what they learned in Trinidad and Tobago back in their own countries. We also intend to stage international tournaments and organise friendlies between neighbouring countries,” Spreij added.

The other priority goal is to boost the number of contenders in the regional tournament scheduled for April and May 2004, which will send two national sides winging their way to the FIFA Futsal World Championship Chinese Taipei 2004.

Cuba, second step

A second seminar was held a week later in La Habana, Cuba, which gathered together 28 coaches and 20 referees from five National Associations: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

The course ran from 6-11 October and was led by three FIFA instructors: the Spaniards Pedro Galán (refereeing) and José Venancio and the Costa Rican Carlos Quiros (coaching).

“It was a resounding success. Students showed a great deal of interest, above all in the practical side of things,” Quiros told FIFA.com. He also had praise for the organisational skills of “the people involved in the Goal Project and the Cuban Football Federation, who put on a top-class event in spite of the limited resources on the island”.

The seminar was held in the facilities of the Mario López Alfonso School of Football, built as part of the FIFA Goal Programme.