What's up Mikey,

 this is Paul Young. Hope all is well. I believe that we should have more reputable coaches from outside countries to come to Jamaica to conduct good quality and FIFA approved courses for all ages, with more emphasis been placed on the youth coaches. Youth in terms of coaches that coach at the prep and primary school levels. Too many of our younger players are not getting the proper coaching at that level. Too much emphasis is placed on winning, and little or no time is spent on teaching these kids the proper technique of ball control, passing and basic fundamental knowledge of the game. I must state that we want the kids to have winning mentalities, but not at the expense of disregarding the basic skills and fundamentals of the game.

Paul Young.

Mr. Blair,

First, all the coaches need to attend a lot more coaches seminars. The JFF should arrange for more scheduling of the Level I ,II, and III training courses throughout the island.
Secondly, some of the money that FIFA gives to the country should go towards paying for seminars and clinics both local and overseas.
Also for the coaches to improve, the players attitudes, please note I said the players attitude needs to improve and not the skill level.

In the not so distant past, I have witnessed Jamaican youth teams (Under 12, 14, & 16) win soccer tournaments in Orlando, Florida for a series of consecutive years. However the kids they run circles around at that age go on to be professional soccer players and ours, well I don't know.

The establishment that runs Jamaican football needs to look at themselves. There has been no development of football in Jamaica. An article in the October 30,
2006 Gleaner highlights the problem very well. Not one player from the Under 20 youth team that went to the Under 20 World Cup finals is not a member of the present Senior team.

If the JFF had invested in local coaches namely, Jackie Walters, Jeffery Maxwell, Big Carl, and many others throughout the island from back in the 80's we would be reaping those benefits today.

Last but not least is that everyone that's associated with soccer in Jamaica needs to understand that being paid to play is not the only about being a professional. It includes setting a high standard and maintaining it.

Joe DiMaggio once told a reporter when asked how does he play so well all the time and his reply was, "I play as if the person watching me for the first, maybe seeing me play for the last time." That's a professional.

Paul Bennett

We need to send our football coaches in Europe or South America to do course that will help to improve their coaching. Although it would be much better if the JFF bring the teachers from abroad to the coaches.
Also the JFF and Clubs need to invest in younger coaches.
Later
 

Barrington Gaynor
 

Lorna Donaldson

Dear Premidictor,

Knowledge is power, so in order for our coaches to improve in the quality of their coaching they need to obtain ready information such as technique, body mechanics, social and behavioral aspects of the Human Bean, Players welfare, revise rules and regulation of the game, improve tactical awareness of the sport and proper facilities at their disposal.
these information can be obtain through regular work shops and seminars, at the highest level. The approach of the coaches should be just like setting up a training program for the players, the same must be done for themselves as learning something new each day is the way to increase knowledge.

Clive Marshall
 

This is not as easy to answer as it sounds. Why? For the most part coaches cannot make a living out of coaching. You therefore find a situation where at the lower levels of our football (where you want good
coaches) you have a lot of people that cannot get/hold a job elsewhere and therefore 'have the time'. So to an extent you are not starting with necessarily the 'best minds'.
Given the acceptance of the abovementioned, we then have to :
Train
Mandate
Enforce
Educate
Train: We need to ensure that all persons that are involved with coaching be trained to a particular standard. Individuals that are to be involved with children should be required to do a special test.
Mandate: We must mandate that particular certification be required at different levels of competition islandwide. All teams, (no matter where they are
playing) have a certified coach for that particular level.
Enforce: We MUST ENFORCE THE ABOVE and put in sanctions for teams/parishes that do not comply. A lot of times the coach registered for the team is not the person coaching, because is that person that have the time but not the qualification.
Educate: We must ensure that the persons that are involved have continuous access to the latest information with regards to training and training methods.
I feel that if we go along that path and stay the
course we would see improvements in our coaches.

Linnel McLean

Increasing the quality of soccer coaches in Jamaica is almost as complex as improving the quality of teachers in any country.
If one has the determine whether or not Jamaica has participants who would make competent coaches, i could imagine the number of people who can qualify.
To understand the present state of the local coaches will be to bring about a comparison with the coaches of yesterday who may not have enjoyed the scientific training of today's coaches, but they probably started from an academic base which, when coupled with their natural talent to play soccer, would have created good communicators who know the game from the ground up.
Few will challenge the extraordinary ability of some of the past greats of Jamaican soccer like, Walter Chevannes, Karl Largie, Gerry Alexander  Bartlett, Ken East, Owen Parker, Alan Skill Cole, the Belle brothers, Lindy Delapenha, and add these to your excellent players of the past decade.
Surely, they were taught by some intelligent minds of yesterday and were able to implement whatever they learnt to enhance their personal performances.
I have had good relationships with people like Winston Chung Fah, a top coach in his own right, Carl Brown and some of the more recent coaches of Jamaica.
Having returned to glory times in order to establish that there are good people who can become competent coaches in Jamaica, i wish now to identify with a number of factors which must be addressed in order to improve the quality of work to be done.
The game has clearly become more scientific and as technicrats, we must ride with the tide. We must approach the job with an education process which will assist the stakeholders in performing better.
Its no longer sufficient to teach the basic forms of skill and be satisfied. We must help players to understand the game to the point that they can read and plan the tactics to be used on the field. They must analyse the players, their strengths, weaknesses, their mental strength, their levels of understanding, especially when it refers to heights, speeds, distances, climatic conditions, and most importantly, their ability to assess their opponents during a game.
These features are not always learnt by playing the game, but more by attending education programs conducted by persons who are versed in the specific areas of the sport.
Attending coaching courses are invaluable and provides inexperienced coaches with information to share with their students and teams. But a certificate from that exercise only offers official permission to learn the trade.
The process of education must be continual and not just a "one and done" session with a Coaching Instructor. This brings me to your question. A continuous amount of dialogue with a coaching instructor who must be entrusted with the job of improving the quality of the coaches. the Instructor should have a fair idea of the culture of the Jamaican, his likes and dislikes on the field and the reasons for success or failure in the past.
An instructor who must provide regular series of soccer analyses, whether it be domestic or international matches, whether it be age group of adult players, and certainly providing a line of progress at which the training coaches should aim.
It is almost like developing a new and positive culture in and among some very talented young players and coaches.
Another factor which must be addressed is that of discipline among coaches, players and administration.
When one discusses discipline, it means more self discipline and in other cases, ability to be committed, dedicated, to listen to instructions from those in authority, to plan effectively and make full use of each minute when the business of soccer is being addressed.
There is no short cut method to progress, but if the assessment of the Jamaican players and coaches is properly performed effectively, then it will be surprising if the game does not move ahead rapidly.
On a note of today's national team of Jamaica, I honestly believe that there are a number of competent players who should have qualified for Germany 2006.
The ability of the players was without question, but the mental focus and the tactical plans which should have brought positive results, especially against the USA on two occasions, fell apart terribly and the country was penalised.
This must mot happen again. Jamaica has quality players at home and abroad. They must be utilised carefully and taken on a progressive course towards a more matured national team.
It is not impossible and the earlier the job commences, the better it would be for the Reggae Boyz.
regards.

Alvin Corneal.
 

Coaching like playing, one gets better by working at their game on a daily basis. Then coaches need a platform to express their ideas. Consequently they need a competitive league. Yes coaches must take courses and study other top coaches, but the bottom line is the ability to work every day with players.
At the youth level its more about the development of individuals. Do or have the player progressed to a higher level. What percentage of players have gone on to represent JA at the youth level, U20 Level and at the WC Level. How many have gone on to turn pro. This is the progression and this should be the only criteria for judging youth coaches.

Cheers

Stephen Hart
 

 Carl Spence