by EZRA STUART
ONE OF Barbados’ most qualified football coaches has picked up another advanced diploma.
Jerry Skeete has returned home from Florida, where he gained a Premier diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in Fort Lauderdale.
He had previously gained the NSCAA’s Advance National Diploma from the University of South Carolina in 2007.
Skeete told MIDWEEK?SPORT he benefited greatly from attending the one-week course conducted by a Brazilian, Dido; Schellas Hyndman, a former coach of Dallas FC; and Tony DiCicco. DiCicco is the former successful head coach of the United States’ women’s team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1996 and the FIFA World Cup in 1999.
“It involved a thorough examination of different systems of play. It included technical and tactical implication on 11 versus 11 topics, such as coaching in the game, phase play and shadow play,” noted Skeete.
“Other components of the course involved nutrition, sportsmanship/ethics and a leadership component which consisted of team management, personal development and the coaches’ role in the game development in his or her community,” added Skeete.
Skeete had previously gained a coaching diploma from the Hungarian University of Physical Education in 1997 and had coaching attachments at Sheffield United club in England 2001 and 2002.
He was also assistant coach/trainer of the national senior men’s team in 2006 when the Bajan Tridents, under the guidance of Keith “Grell” Griffith and Eyre Sealy, achieved a notable world ranking of 93.
They played unbeaten in the Digicel Caribbean Cup to top their first and second round groups to reach the final round in Trinidad and Tobago, where they failed to reach the semi-finals.
Two years later, Skeete and head coach Thomas Jordan achieved a similar feat when the Tridents again played unbeaten in the first round in St Kitts and the second round in Cuba but bowed out in the final round in Jamaica.
Noting that Barbados had failed to get past the first round of the last two Digicel Cups in 2010 and 2012, Skeete said he was looking forward to sharing his knowledge.
“I am always available for national duty but it is up to the will of the Barbados Football Association’s executive to utilize me or not,” said Skeete, who served as head coach of the Barbados Under-20 men’s team in 200and 2004.National Under-17 coach Kenville “Kab” Layne was also a participant in the Advanced diploma course in Florida.
