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Date Posted: Saturday 11 October, 2008

FIFA Futuro III course opens in SK

By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

(From left to right) David Allen, Harold Taylor, Sarah Willock-Kelly, Peter Jenkins and Ervin Williams
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis became the center of the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) universe Thursday (Oct. 9) as FIFA opened its Futuro III Administration & Management Course at the Marriott Resort in Frigate Bay.

The 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. daily course will run until Thursday, October 16 and aims to teach the participants about a variety of football’s technical fields, such as sports medicine, refereeing and proper administration of leagues. It will also give the students a chance to one day become FIFA-certified instructors.

Those participating from the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) are Lindberg Belle, Ervin Williams, David Allen and Sarah Willock-Kelly.

Harold Taylor, Development Officer for FIFA, was on hand for the ceremony and said that courses like the Futuro III are vital to the development of football in the CFU.

“We are trying our best with these Futuro courses to try to build capacity in the associations,” he said, adding that the course should be taken very seriously by the students if they hope to teach for FIFA one day. “I would like to say that if you want to become a regional instructor and you go back to your association and do nothing [after the course], I will toss your name out.”

Taylor said that the Futuro series of courses would require a great deal of work not only on the part of the students, but by their home associations as well.

“This is the most difficult of the Futuro III courses, administration and management. I say this because sometimes when the administration sends somebody to take a management course …they try to keep these people who go to the course out of the management of the association because they are worried that they will take over.” 

However, President of the SKNFA, Peter Jenkins, said that he wished the students from all of the CFU associations to take the course very serious and to take leadership roles in their home associations.

“Your task as FIFA management instructors is to prepare your respective federations to become efficient on and off the field of play. Additionally, you have the chance to become a FIFA regional instructor and I hope you know what that means. So, this is not a week of frolic. We ask that you remain focused on what you are here to do.”

While much of the opening ceremony focused on the task at hand for the students, there was an occasional nod to the elephant in the room - FIFA’s pending decision for the SKNFA constitution to be revised and administration elections repeated.

Hon. Richard Skerritt, Minister of State with responsibility for Sport, carefully danced around the issue during his address while still praising Jenkins for his role in the Federation’s football.

“I want to emphasise to all of you that this is a democratic country, and we cherish our rights and freedoms, but the facts speak for themselves. I want to thank Peter for his service to football in the past, present and the future. I want to thank Peter for the strong dedication and commitment he and his people have shown to football.

“I am certainly not getting involved in the local football politics, but you cannot hide from the truth. The truth is that football has a rich history under Peter and his predecessors,” Skerritt said.

Perhaps referencing the current state of affairs in the SKNFA, Alex Condelle delivered an instrumental rendition of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans’ classic song ‘Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)’ on his saxophone, which was met with loud applause from the audience.

 

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