The development of a National Sports Coaching Plan for St Lucia is taking shape, with the program having visited at least a dozen different communities around the Island.
From Vieux Fort to Gros Islet, the Sacred Cows team implementing the European Union-funded project has carried out intensive theoretical and practical coaching programmes right across the Island.
“We have tried to visit as many communities as possible, so that everyone can share their vision of where sports in St Lucia should go over the next five years,” said Delroy Alexander, a managing director of Sacred Cows. “We are working on as many fronts as possible to ensure that our experts are visible and accessible to everyone.”
To date the Sacred Cows team have carried out more than 70 practical coaching sessions in football, cricket, netball and volleyball across the Island since the project began on October 6. More than 300 participants and 80 local coaches have taken part in a full range of activities designed to develop sports on the island.
Also as part of the National Sports Coaching Plan, a comprehensive needs assessment for soccer, cricket, netball and volleyball has been carried out. The needs assessment team met with key stakeholders, undertaking around 20 essential interviews. The draft needs assessment is currently under review.
The needs assessment analysis has incorporated the who, what, where, when, why and how of coaching and focuses on: (1) Identifying sporting organizations through a comprehensive inventory of sporting bodies. (2)Assessing the competencies and skills that are in existence and are required to perform the job.(3)Identifying individuals who require training.
The needs assessment determines and addresses competency gaps in knowledge, skills, attitude and values. It will identify what knowledge; skills and attitudes are related to elite performance discrepancies and look at effective ways to bridge the gaps through on-the-job training, advice, supervision, coaching, peer review, meetings and formal (class room) training.
The needs assessment team has begun working closely with National Sports Coaching Plan consultant Professors John Lyle, who is expected on Island in December to advise on the visioning exercise and plan details. The team is already in the planning phase for the visioning exercise, which they expect to hold in the first week of December. Professor Lyle will help lead the exercise, along with several key Sacred Cows Staff.
The team is working with the Ministry to identify a broad range of stakeholders in order to ensure the best possible Island wide participation.
Working under the guidance of the Ministry, Sacred Cows has recruited several internationally recognized coaches, sports scientists and leading sports administrators to work in the Island. This weekend, former West Indies cricket coach and all-rounder Roger Harper will be one of several top international coaches presenting at an elite coaching weekend designed to enhance leading local coaching talent on the island.
Football Coach, Cess Podd, has already carried out sessions in Dennery, Soufriere, Gros Islet, Marigot, Mon Repo, Micoud, Vieux Fort, Laborie, Choiseul and Anse La Raye. The coach has begun a structured coaching framework based around improving the basic skills, mobility and mental toughness of local coaches and kids in attendance. In collaboration with the St Lucia Football Association, the football coach has also engaged with several national teams and has begun to address areas such as discipline, game awareness and analysis techniques.
Coach Podd, a leading talent evaluator, said he was impressed with the coaches and players he had worked with during two stints on the Island.
“There is immense untapped potential in
football on the Island,”
said Podd after Monday’s training session in Babonneau. “This program is helping identify just how to harness that and channel it in the right direction over the next few years.”