A group of former players with experience in club coaching in Georgetown has transitioned into the role of grassroots coaches after completing an intensive workshop organised by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) for the rollout of ‘Access’, a new national grassroots initiative.
The Coaching Department conducted the two-day comprehensive theoretical and practical training programme on October 3 at the GFF Headquarters Boardroom, and on October 6 on the NIS Ground, both located in Georgetown.
The football stalwarts Gordon Braithwaite, Dennis Hunte, Vibert Butts, Colin Tasher, Lloyd Smith and Troy Wright were immersed in the federation’s national youth coaching philosophy and provided with thorough instruction and guidance on the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective coaches and mentors for the GFF Access Grassroots Programme.
President Wayne Forde explained that the Access Grassroots Programme is an additional component integrated into the existing youth development initiatives to foster greater football participation of boys and girls between the ages of five and twelve with particular focus on inner city communities.
The GFF’s current grassroots initiatives is funded through the Members Financial Assistance Programme (M-FAP) and encompass a range of programmes, including the nine regional Academy Training Centre (ATC), Regional Associations year-round Grassroot Programmes and football clubs, who are now being trained and resourced to integrate grassroots activities into their youth development programmes.
“Grassroots football is where the dream begins for every child. The first time they experience the game of football, the quality of that experience usually influences whether they will remain as a lifelong player or fan. Grassroots is where we usually identify talent in its earliest form, but this is more than talent identification, this is really about growing participation by granting children more access to football.”
President Forde shared. “Our long-term goal is to have weekly grassroots activities being organised within our ATC programme, by our regional football associations and by our football clubs. If we able to get complete buy-in, we will rapidly multiply the number of young boys and girls involvement in football. The ‘Access’ grassroots initiative is an additional tier of the grassroots ecosystem we are building in order to widen the catchment area for young children who because of various challenges, may not be part of the established football structure.”
The coaching workshop was held by GFF Technical Director Bryan Joseph, Coaches Education Officer Lyndon France and Coach Mentor Linsworth Gilbert.
Various aspects of coaching were covered, including child safeguarding, grassroots structure, technical development, the grassroots player and coach and the importance of fostering a positive and inclusive environment.
Technical Director Joseph added that the federation will roll out the initiative as a pilot programme and will employ a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation component to guide the national rollout in the coming months.
“The programme is off to a great start. We’ve had a theoretical session where we have gone through with these stalwarts what are the expectations of the programme, what we expect from them and the overall objectives of what we’re trying to achieve. We’ve been able to spend some time discussing child safeguarding, the structure and also ways how they can connect with individual communities.”
A notable aspect of the Access Grassroots Programme is that coaches will be mobile, travelling from one venue to another, in order to train young individuals in the fundamental skills of the sport.
The GFF will furnish each coach with adequate supply of grassroots equipment to be able to execute the programme wherever they chose to.
“The whole programme is going to be based on these coaches being mobile, not being at one particular ground but moving from venue to venue to conduct sessions,” Joseph said.
Coach Gordon Braithwaite said he is happy to “be a part of this and I hope by the next six months we can hope to see a great improvement in football at this level.”
The GFF is committed to empowering aspiring young footballers through its grassroots initiatives by providing them with access to knowledgeable coaches, a safe learning environment and adequate football resources so that they can excel in the sport. (GFF)
