FIFA's Head of Technical Development Services Jurg Nepfer has offered positive remarks about the work being done by CONCACAF on the technical side of the game and has indicated that there will be further collaborations between the Confederation and the World Governing body with emphasis on coaching and technical development.
Nepfer was in Port of Spain, Trinidad last week for the staging of the FIFA Technical Directors Workshop which included technical directors of eight CONCACAF Member Associations including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Suriname, St Kitts/Nevis, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands.
"I think it's very positive what is happening in CONCACAF. We have a very close relationship with Jason Roberts, the Director of Development and also Etienne Sealy who is one of our instructors and also a consultant of CONCACAF," Nepfer told CONCACAF.com
"What they are doing is very positive for the development of football. You have the "Teach the Teachers" programme and the coach education programmes and overall there is also a lot of enthusiasm in the confederation. We are very happy with the communication and collaboration we are having with Jason and his team there," Nepfer added.
On the importance of the recent workshop, Nepfer said it was crucial for the Technical Directors to play a more significant role within their member associations and one of them intentions for these type of workshops was to instill more confidence in the individuals that hold such a position.
"We hope that each of the Technical Directors that were here can benefit and take something home which will improve their personal level and the development of their programmes. We also hope that we can assist them with the tools we are providing so they can do their jobs better. We hope that with the confidence we give them they can have a bit more empowerment so they can talk to their Presidents and General Secretaries and they can understand how important FIFA thinks the technical director is," Nepfer stated.
"It is part of the process. It is not an isolated event because we do not want the TDs to just go away from here and we are not aware of what is happening with them. We also want to stay in touch and monitor and continue to assist. We want to elaborate on the mentorship programme probably also together with CONCACAF, to also work closer with the Confederation to see the impact we are having with these programmes such as the Technical Directors course," Nepfer said.
CONCACAF Director of Development Jason Roberts was also present on the opening day of the workshop, lauding the collaboration and the emphasis being placed on technical development and coach education in the confederation by the various member associations.
FIFA Regional Development manager based in the Caribbean, Marlon Glean also pointed out that the collaborations with CONCACAF will enhance the capacity of technical personnel within the region.
"This is a good example of FIFA and one of its confederations working together. CONCACAF has been undertaking a number of initiatives in the region from tournaments to some of the capacity building initiatives including the D and C license courses," Glean said.
"What this does is it brings together the technical experts, combining with what these coaches would have learned over a period of time with the Technical directors now being able to further guide them. Once the coaches go on to their national teams to participate at CONCACAF and FIFA competitions they will now be better prepared having acquired the knowledge and guidance of the technical directors who have participated in courses like these," Glean added.
"FIFA office in the region is relatively new and CONCACAF has just put in a number of key individuals in the region. So we have been having a lot of communication to ensure we are on the same page. We are working closely together to ensure we do not have duplication in some of the activities we are doing and also in terms of scheduling of these activities.
