GFF holds FIFA Elite Youth Coach Workshop

Jul 13, 2025 Sports

FIFA instructors and participants take a photo at the FIFA Elite Youth Coach Workshop. (GFF)

Kaieteur Sports – The Guyana Football Federation (GFF), in collaboration with FIFA, on Tuesday officially commenced a four-day Elite Youth Coach Workshop aimed at strengthening youth development structures and enhancing the technical capacity of local coaches working with national youth teams.

Running from July 8th to 11th, 2025, the workshop was executed under the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) and forms part of FIFA’s “on demand” training support for its Member Associations. The course is designed to provide development coaches with the tools, methodologies, and frameworks required to identify, nurture, and transition emerging football talent through the national pipeline.

Throughout the four-day programme, participants were engaged in both theoretical and practical sessions that focused on modern coaching techniques, long-term player development models, and the establishment of high-performance youth environments. These sessions were intended to support the Federation’s wider strategic goals of building a sustainable national team pipeline through strong grassroots and academy-level coaching.

Participants involved in a session of the FIFA Elite Youth Coach Workshop here in Guyana. (GFF)

GFF Technical Director Bryan Joseph described the workshop as not only timely but crucial to the ongoing development of youth football in Guyana. “The Elite Youth Coaches Workshop is not only really, really important but is also very timely, because it comes at a time when we are working with multiple youth national teams preparing them for international competition,” Joseph stated.

He emphasized that the course goes beyond short-term preparation and serves as a powerful affirmation of the GFF’s ongoing efforts in coaching education. “More importantly, the course serves as a validation for the work that we’ve been doing in our Coach Education Department. It is really good to hear that a lot of the things that we’re doing with our national programs is already part of the best practice that is done across the rest of the football spectrum, so we’re happy,” he said.

Joseph also highlighted the collaborative nature of the workshop and the quality of engagement between the local coaches and the FIFA technical team. “Thus far, the interaction with the FIFA team and the local group has been excellent. There is a lot of sharing of information and best practices, and there is now clearer understanding of the standards that are expected from us as national coaches,” he explained.

He added that this deeper clarity is essential to the Federation’s long-term development goals: “We now have a better understanding of what is required of us if we are to truly impact the level and the quality of the players coming through the system—especially those transitioning from youth football into first team football.”

The application for the course was submitted through the FIFA Training Centre portal by the GFF’s technical department and approved following FIFA’s review of three proposed timelines. The workshop was facilitated by approximately four to five FIFA experts.

The FIFA Elite Youth Coach Workshop is a key milestone in the GFF’s broader effort to create a structured, sustainable football development ecosystem that reflects international best practices while serving local needs.

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Bryan Joseph, Elite Youth Coach Workshop, FIFA, GFF

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