Advanced Level II certification a must for Premier League coaches
Published:Thursday | May 12, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Premier League coaches hoping to ply their trade in the top flight for the 2011-12 season will have to head back to school, so to speak, as they will be required to have Advanced Level II certification, according to a release issued by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
This comes as part of the JFF's move to standardise local coaching practices, and in doing so, improve the knowledge-base and eventually the execution of the sport of football locally.
The coaches will, as a result, have to gear up for the ninth staging of the series of courses expected to run over the next five weeks at the University of Technology (UTech).
The clinics, put on by the JFF in conjunction with the Jamaica Money Market Brokers and UTech, are aimed at furthering the policy outlined by the federation two years ago.
More than 300 coaches have taken part in the Advanced Level I course since its inauguration in 2009, but those who wish to continue pursuing their interests in the local Digicel Premier League will have to go a step further and acquire the mandatory Advanced Level II certification. The regulation will become effective on September 2011. The second course will be held from August 17-September 1 and will include a Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) instructor.
It is not just at the Premier League level, however, that coaches will be forced to get themselves certified. Come September, coaches at the primary and preparatory schools level, as well as those who condition teams in the senior schoolboy Manning and DaCosta Cup competitions, Major League and Women's League, must be Level I-compliant.
The Level I course will begin on May 27 and end on Sunday, June 26.
The implementation of a national philosophy, which it is hoped all national teams at all levels will pattern, is expected to be taught at the coaching school.
At a recently concluded FIFA leadership seminar, held with the JFF's board of directors, FIFA's performance consultants commended the move by the federation and believed it to be key to improving the quality of the game in the country.