Three GFF technical staff pass new Concacaf B License course

Jan 26, 2022 Sports

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Kaieteur News – Three senior members of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Technical Department have passed the recently-launched Concacaf B coaching license course, which is the highest coaching qualification currently offered by the regional governing body.

GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood – who also holds the UEFA A license, GFF Assistant
Technical Director Bryan Joseph and GFF Coaching Mentor Linsworth Gilbert achieved the qualification aimed at Concacaf member association technical directors and senior coach educators via the inaugural 2021 course.
The qualification, only open to coaches with a current Concacaf C license qualification, empowers coaches to deliver Concacaf C license courses at the local level, which had previously required the involvement of non-domestic Concacaf coach educators.
“We are delighted to be able to facilitate these essential training opportunities for our staff with the support of Concacaf as we upskill our coaches and coach educators to improve standards in our programmes and competitions,” said Technical Director Greenwood. “The course, which is the highest level of qualification currently offered by Concacaf, is vital for the development of football across the region, and we look forward to enabling more of our coaches to graduate through the coaching education pathway in the near future.”
The new course is part of Concacaf’s “Train the Trainer” programme, which currently offers qualification at D, C and B license level that are recognised across the Concacaf region. A record
14 GFF-affiliated coaches are also currently on their way to achieving the C license.
“I’m very honoured to have received my Concacaf B license certificate – I believe it’s proof of, and a fitting reward for, the hard work that I’ve put towards the development of myself as a coach and as an administrator of football,” said Assistant Technical Director Joseph. “I’m overjoyed to know that I am among the first group of coaches that would have received the official Concacaf B license certification. Now we are equipped, we are able to contribute heavily to the development of football in Guyana and to deliver Concacaf C license course to our local coaches. We want to encourage all the coaches out there to push towards upskilling themselves and trying to attain the highest licenses that are available, so we can all contribute to the growth of the game in Guyana.”
In order to maintain the validity of a qualification, coaches must undergo regular refresher courses and assessment. The failure to refresh qualifications in the past led to a situation where no GFF-affiliated coaches had valid certification when the current administration took over in
November 2015.
Since then, with the support of Concacaf, the GFF has facilitated training and certification for 72
Concacaf D licensed and Concacaf C licensed coaches as part of its long-term strategy to sustainably grow and maintain a professionally qualified pool of coaches in Guyana.
“Aspiring to achieve the B license has been a personal and national objective for me,” said Coach Gilbert, who is also the President of the Guyana Football Coaches Association. “The
GFF’s national coaching education programme has reflected ambition in the coaches across the country. The support we are now getting from the GFF is great and it shows that our football is improving both from a coaching perspective and from a player development perspective.”
“It’s very important for us to continue to aspire to greater heights and to achieve higher levels of coach licenses,” Gilbert continued. “As a nation, being able to be involved in higher licensing programmes gives our national programme a boost, and it also gives us the confidence that we have the level of education to be able to compete not only in Concacaf, but more generally at an international level.”
Active football coaches who are interested in pursuing official coaching qualifications should contact their local GFF regional association or the GFF Technical Department for further information about introductory courses that act as the first step on the journey through the graded stages of Concacaf certification.
“The GFF Executive Committee, under my leadership, has been steadfast in its commitment to investing in and facilitating the professionalisation and development of our coaches with the vital support of our close partners in Concacaf, FIFA and UEFA,” said GFF President Wayne Forde.
“We still have some way to go to reach the levels of certification we would like to see across the board, but I am very pleased to say we are rapidly making up for the previous, long-term absence of a sustained coaching education strategy in Guyana, which held back the professional development of our coaches and players for decades.”
“I want to commend our technical staff, under the leadership of Ian Greenwood, for overseeing this turnaround in the last few years,” Forde added. “I would also like to congratulate these three individuals for their dedication and hard work in achieving these new qualifications, which mean we can now accelerate GFF-delivered coaching education up to and including the Concacaf C license. I want to encourage all budding and existing coaches to come forward and begin or continue their own development through this structured coaching programme, so that we continue to build stronger foundations for the future of football together.”

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