Stern urges pursuit of TTFA coaching courses

THE TT Football Association (TTFA) last week announced another leg of its coach education programme which includes a TTFA B and C Licence course to take place from December 4.

The TTFA coach education programme is spearheaded by Technical Director Anton Corneal who is also a FIFA and CONCACAF coaching instructor.

The TTFA initially embarked on a C level licence course for instructors, conducted by the Dutch KNVB, in which six persons were given the opportunity to participate, among them being Corneal who has lectured similar courses for CONCACAF at the C licence and the B licence level, also helping with the designing of the CONCACAF B Licence.

Corneal has lectured at FIFA and CONCACAF Grassroots courses and has lectured for FIFA at courses in this region and in CONMEBOL for the past eight years. His most recent appearance at a FIFA course was last week in Barbados where he delivered a lecture at a FIFA technical directors course for regional technical directors.

The former national player was part of a panel of coaches that designed the FIFA Youth Coaching Manual three years ago.He also attended a UEFA Instructors B Licence course at which he received a Senior Coach Educators Licence. Corneal holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Diploma in Football from Leipzig University in Germany.

Several local coaches and past players have graduated from the TTFA and CONCACAF courses overseen by Corneal, including current men's assistant coach Stern John, Leonson Lewis, Yohance Marshall, Sean De Silva, Jan Michael Williams, Clayton Ince, Ahkeela Mollon, Hector Sam, Kerry Baptiste, Marvin Oliver and Nicholas Griffith among others.

Some of the areas that will be focused on during the course will be principles of coaching; the role of the coach; the teaching-learning process; communication; ethics; coaches being able to assess their players’ developmental; coaches being able to plan and implement an effective training session with specific objectives; and to develop a progressive programme of appropriate duration.

Other areas of focus will be: Coaches being able to understand the main moments of football and relate it to team task and function; coaches being able to identify and develop personal and professional behaviours in themselves, and players and coaches being able to identify the basic elements that make up football.

John spoke about his experience of the TTFA coaching courses, saying, “I did the C in England as well as the UEFA B and the TTFA C and B at home. Our B and C courses in Trinidad are full of information. It’s more strenuous and intense and very comparable with the two I have been on abroad, when it comes to the information being passed on and the methods used,” John told TTFA Media.

“Anton’s mentoring is very important in helping you to be a better coach. He explains at length. For me, doing the the C and B licence courses in Trinidad helped me with my UEFA B course in the UK to understand the game better and with putting down my sessions. I think it’s important for local coaches to do the local B and C licences,” added the former Sunderland forward.

“I think the B and C licences are recognised in other parts, especially the Caribbean. It is important that our coaches keep up with the times of coaching, and graduating from these courses is an important step for them.”

John is also the head coach of local Pro League club Central FC and was one of the coaches overseeing the recent Major League Soccer (MLS) Combine in Barbados.

Yohance Marshall also shared his views, saying, “There is a lot of information presented in these courses. It’s completely different from playing. You see the game from different eyes and from a different point of view. You have to analyse everything and be more conscious of the things going on on the field,” Marshall added.