National Under-17 football coach Kenville Layne is starting 2014 on a path of professional and educational development.
The Paradise youth team coach is due to depart the island today for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to take part in the National Soccer Coaches of America Association (NSCAA) Advanced National Diploma Course.
Layne has gained certification in the Caribbean and several European countries, such as Germany, England and Hungary. However, he said CONCACAF’s recent steps to elevate coaching education aided his choice in selecting the NSCAA Advanced National Licence.
“CONCACAF are now going in a direction to better coaching in the region, with the introduction of a series of courses, so I chose to take this direction to the United States as they fall in the CONCACAF region,” said Layne.
Another reason for selecting the US for this next step in his coaching career was the difficulty which can present itself in coaching in Europe. With the proposed Caribbean Professional League (CPL) slated to start in 2015, Layne believes completing this course successfully would put him in a position to be recognized.
“I believe doing this course now puts me in a prime position to possibly work with one of the teams [in the CPL] when the league does start,” he reasoned.
Coach Layne added that even though completion of the course would supplement his resumé and personal development, it was more about the development, improvement and education of the players with whom he works.
“If players are to improve, coaches are to educate themselves and continue to upgrade themselves,” he said.
The week-long course will put Layne in a room with some of the finest coaches from North and Central America, the Caribbean and Europe, and will offer the possibility of networking and forming links not just personally but for Barbados football. (ROG)