Association of Football Coaches website

[E-man]

This has not been posted on SWO apparently but the site looks like it's been up for some time. Last update on it seems to have been back in May so it's not being kept up.

Association of Football Coaches of T&T
http://ttffcoaches.karasma.net

[Mose]

Seems like most of the pages are blank. And some important ones too like the overview and organizational profile. I sent them a message to that effect.

[Coop's]

Coaches Association !!!!!!!!!! does it and will it ever exist in T&T? we have tried to develop this Association before,during and after my time with no success,it seems like T&T are afraid of associations,i'm so shocked to see it have a website.

Coaches in T&T have never been able to come together because of everyone's own selfish means,they are more concerned about their egos,the teams/players they have control over,the position/qualifications they have,not interested in helping another Coach,it's the reason we don't have proper national teams because each Coach selects players he likes and not those on merit.

I don't think we have realized how much this has hurt or is hurting our Football,if you realize every time a foreign Coach comes home something improves it's all because they are not so narrow minded,the politics is so strong that it kills them,we just will not change,you don't have to go far to see what's going on,look at how our club Coaches fight with each other,they even go so far as to fight with the national team Coach.

This could be a big piece of the puzzle in solving the problems our players are having both on and off the field,Coaches should be the ones en courageing players to form/join PFATT not the 06 WC players,they should be seeing about their players welfare if they interested in them playing,is not coach alone any more it's Coach/Manager.           

[Bourbon]

I get excited. Click on link. Click on courses. See a empty white box. Emit a steups.


Well...better dan nuttin.

[Bakes]

Coaches Association !!!!!!!!!! does it and will it ever exist in T&T? we have tried to develop this Association before,during and after my time with no success,it seems like T&T are afraid of associations,i'm so shocked to see it have a website.

Coaches in T&T have never been able to come together because of everyone's own selfish means,they are more concerned about their egos,the teams/players they have control over,the position/qualifications they have,not interested in helping another Coach,it's the reason we don't have proper national teams because each Coach selects players he likes and not those on merit.

I don't think we have realized how much this has hurt or is hurting our Football,if you realize every time a foreign Coach comes home something improves it's all because they are not so narrow minded,the politics is so strong that it kills them,we just will not change,you don't have to go far to see what's going on,look at how our club Coaches fight with each other,they even go so far as to fight with the national team Coach.

This could be a big piece of the puzzle in solving the problems our players are having both on and off the field,Coaches should be the ones en courageing players to form/join PFATT not the 06 WC players,they should be seeing about their players welfare if they interested in them playing,is not coach alone any more it's Coach/Manager.           

If you had your way... would the coaches association be open to national team coaches too?  What if that national coach is a foreigner?  Would it just be for people working on the club level and down?  My sentiments are always pro 'labor' so any kind or organization is good in my book, strength in numbers kinda thing.

[Coop's]

Coaches Association !!!!!!!!!! does it and will it ever exist in T&T? we have tried to develop this Association before,during and after my time with no success,it seems like T&T are afraid of associations,i'm so shocked to see it have a website.

Coaches in T&T have never been able to come together because of everyone's own selfish means,they are more concerned about their egos,the teams/players they have control over,the position/qualifications they have,not interested in helping another Coach,it's the reason we don't have proper national teams because each Coach selects players he likes and not those on merit.

I don't think we have realized how much this has hurt or is hurting our Football,if you realize every time a foreign Coach comes home something improves it's all because they are not so narrow minded,the politics is so strong that it kills them,we just will not change,you don't have to go far to see what's going on,look at how our club Coaches fight with each other,they even go so far as to fight with the national team Coach.

This could be a big piece of the puzzle in solving the problems our players are having both on and off the field,Coaches should be the ones en courageing players to form/join PFATT not the 06 WC players,they should be seeing about their players welfare if they interested in them playing,is not coach alone any more it's Coach/Manager.           

If you had your way... would the coaches association be open to national team coaches too?  What if that national coach is a foreigner?  Would it just be for people working on the club level and down?  My sentiments are always pro 'labor' so any kind or organization is good in my book, strength in numbers kinda thing.

    I think any Coaches association should involve all Coaches and that includes our national teams Coaches,they are the ones to provide the leadership,set agendas,programs,clinics,workshops,camps,symposiums,courses etc etc a Coaches association is a necessity in T&T,it's a means of educating and lifting the standard of coaching.

[Coop's]

Associations are not successful in T&T because it requires a membership fee,everything must be free but we want the benefits.

I'll just refer to the US,the two big Coaches Associations are the NSCAA and the USSF,you will also find every state where Soccer is played has one,in my state it's called VYSA Virginia Youth Soccer Assoc.

Benefits derived from being a member of these associations are worth the fee you pay and it's renewable every year,they send and remind you when the time comes.Every time you renew you are sent a membership card, T-shirt, patch plus books on drills to implement with your team.

As a member your card covers you in case you get injured while coaching(insurance),discounts at hotels,if you have to buy Soccer equipment,attend courses,attend workshops,travel etc etc

I don't think these things are explained to our Coaches and players,only when a situation crops up they all see the reason or importance of having one,an association is not only to fight issues and that's what Coaches and players looking at it as,not realizing it's a means of educating themselves.T&T have a lot of quality Coaches both home and abroad i don't see why we can't have a viable Coaches association in T&T,you don't have to be home to be a member,to give ideas,views and suggestions,instead of inviting foreigners to do Camps etc invite our foreign nationals.     

[Bakes]

Great point about the NSCAA... I tried to attend the Philly Convention in 2006 but couldn't make it, same for the Indianapolis convention in 2007.  Haven't really been into it that much since.. never been a member or anything, I was going to network and largely on the advice of Caligiuri,  with whom I was in more regular contact back then.

I never knew there were that many benefits... this would be tremendous if the model could be exported and implemented in TnT.

[Coop's]

Great point about the NSCAA... I tried to attend the Philly Convention in 2006 but couldn't make it, same for the Indianapolis convention in 2007.  Haven't really been into it that much since.. never been a member or anything, I was going to network and largely on the advice of Caligiuri,  with whom I was in more regular contact back then.

I never knew there were that many benefits... this would be tremendous if the model could be exported and implemented in TnT.

       Is the same thing i'm saying,it have a lot of us who know and are members of these associations but to implement it in T&T is a problem,we don't have time or don't see the importance for it in a developing Soccer nation,i think if Coaches know what's involved they will be interested.

[elan]

I heard that LP bringing down some coaches to do some presentation for the coaches association. I think February/March is when it suppose to take place.

[Coop's]

I was told by my sources T&T was well represented at the NSCAA Convention is Maryland a few weeks ago,some of the names mentioned were Lincoln Phillips,Mohamed Isa,Mike Greyson etc 

[davyjenny1]

Good To hear. I have done NSCAA courses since 1997 and beyond.What they are doing is good for the sport in the U.S and in addition, it is good to network through that assoc but as everything else politics play a roll. I had some okay Instructors but the best one was Tony Waiters and we all know who he is.

[Coop's]

Good To hear. I have done NSCAA courses since 1997 and beyond.What they are doing is good for the sport in the U.S and in addition, it is good to network through that assoc but as everything else politics play a roll. I had some okay Instructors but the best one was Tony Waiters and we all know who that is.

       NSCAA is rated alongside the USSF,their programs are similar and you get basically the same benefits from both.Tony Waiters was tops,i think he is Canadian,i don't know where he ended up but he worked with the Canadian national teams program for some years,he had a few coaching books(his own) and other Soccer equipment he used to market.   

[davyjenny1]

Good To hear. I have done NSCAA courses since 1997 and beyond.What they are doing is good for the sport in the U.S and in addition, it is good to network through that assoc but as everything else politics play a roll. I had some okay Instructors but the best one was Tony Waiters and we all know who that is.

       NSCAA is rated alongside the USSF,their programs are similar and you get basically the same benefits from both.Tony Waiters was tops,i think he is Canadian,i don't know where he ended up but he worked with the Canadian national teams program for some years,he had a few coaching books(his own) and other Soccer equipment he used to market.   

Tony is English he has a few caps for his country and was on the 1966 squad. He coach Canada in the 1986 WC and Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL as well. In regards to the game he is a very knowledgeable person. During my time with them (NSCAA) I also met Craig Brown and I did had some good recommendations from them but didn't pursue those opportunities cause I was on to bigger and better things back then.

[Football supporter]

I was speaking to Lincoln Phillips yesterday. He said initial membership fee is $1 (TT). There will be an interim board. Once they have a fair number of coaches registered, elections will take place and a proper membership fee will be agreed. He said when he joined NSCAA there were around 200 coaches, now membership is 72,000 and its the largest coaches association in the world. He also formed a black coaches committee.

Lincoln has high hopes, but he never over estimates the Trini mentality! He knows there will be many critics and not all coaches will join. But he hopes if he can get enough groundswell going, a coach will be disadvantaged if he doesn't join.

Really hope this takes off, as its needed just as much as a players association.

[Coop's]

Good To hear. I have done NSCAA courses since 1997 and beyond.What they are doing is good for the sport in the U.S and in addition, it is good to network through that assoc but as everything else politics play a roll. I had some okay Instructors but the best one was Tony Waiters and we all know who that is.

       NSCAA is rated alongside the USSF,their programs are similar and you get basically the same benefits from both.Tony Waiters was tops,i think he is Canadian,i don't know where he ended up but he worked with the Canadian national teams program for some years,he had a few coaching books(his own) and other Soccer equipment he used to market.   

Tony is English he has a few caps for his country and was on the 1966 squad. He coach Canada in the 1986 WC and Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL as well. In regards to the game he is a very knowledgeable person. During my time with them (NSCAA) I also met Craig Brown and I did had some good recommendations from them but didn't pursue those opportunities cause I was on to bigger and better things back then.

       Thanks for the correction there.

[CK1]

I was speaking to Lincoln Phillips yesterday. He said initial membership fee is $1 (TT). There will be an interim board. Once they have a fair number of coaches registered, elections will take place and a proper membership fee will be agreed. He said when he joined NSCAA there were around 200 coaches, now membership is 72,000 and its the largest coaches association in the world. He also formed a black coaches committee.

Lincoln has high hopes, but he never over estimates the Trini mentality! He knows there will be many critics and not all coaches will join. But he hopes if he can get enough groundswell going, a coach will be disadvantaged if he doesn't join.

Really hope this takes off, as its needed just as much as a players association.

I'd like to suggest that if the coaches association is to be taken seriously, then that $1 initial membership fee is a joke. The NSCAA IS $75. per year and the membership is actually more like 35,000 (not 72,000) but yes they are the world's largest coaching organization. The NSCAA/ Black Soccer Coaches Committee has a membership of 500 plus black coaches from around the world.  Membership fees does two things from the onset, provides a budget for administration and operations of the association and supports the programs that provide benifits to the associations members. I have been a member of the NSCAA for almost 15 years and when my renewal notice comes in the mail I don't even think twice about renewing because of the tremendous value I have derived from being a participating member of the NSCAA. I believe that this would be a great move for coaches in T&T.

[tempo]

It sounds like the $1 fee is a promotional effort that would be offered for a limited time. So rather than it being a "joke", it sounds like a fairly shrewd move. While the NSCAA has a committed membership that has no problem paying the $75 (US) renewal fee, it would take any new association considerable time to reach that level of commitment, especially in Trinidad. The promotional fee also recognizes there are coaches who struggle financially, so kudos to the coaches association for being inclusive in their efforts to grow their membership.

[Coop's]

Some how when things are being tried or attempted we tend to term it a joke,is T&T we talking about give it a chance to work.I will definitely give Lincoln kudos for wanting to start this at home because we have attempted this many times and failed,our Coaches need a home,somewhere they can go to get updated on what's going on in the rest of the world,information etc it seems like no association eh working in T&T because from the time you say dollars forget it, the $i.00 i don't really think is a fee but a contribution to get it started.
We need a Coaches Association at home if our Coaches are to improve,part time coaching will not work you have to be continuously educating yourself,just like players you have to be on the ball all the time,it's a life a different world.   

[CK1]

Tempo/Coops: I wasn't suggesting that the association is not necessary nor should exclude any coaches who could not afford a more significant fee (which does not have to be equal to $75 US)...I was thinking more in terms of what recourses is necessary from the outset to get an association off the ground properly.
The NSCAA also has a promotional strategy to increase their membership (It's called Share The Membership- which give new members free membership for a year if they are referred by an existing member). Just to be clear, I'm concerned that the $1 introductory fee might cause some to take the establishment of the coaches association for granted. No argument from me as I've talked with Lincoln in Baltimore and support this venture fully.

[tempo]

The Share The Membership is a great promotion and one the T&T Association could definitely use once they establish a good initial membership base. They could probably use the STM promotion in their second year. People will take the association seriously once they see the benefits clearly stated. I would think the association will seek sponsorship and revenue streams that would enable them to not depend on membership fees to underwrite significant memberships.