Canadian Bobby Lennox Brings the Soccer Touch to Dominica

Canadian Bobby Lennox Brings the Soccer Touch to Dominica

ROSEAU, DOMINICA, West Indies –York Region Soccer Association’s Technical Director and Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) Master Learning Facilitator (MLF) – Bobby Lennox, recently ran several soccer coaching workshops in the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies, under Commonwealth Games Canada SportWORKS program - placing Canadian sport leaders in developing Commonwealth countries to make a difference and become different. The schedule for the week long series of soccer coaching workshops was prepared by Trevor Shillngfordfrom the Dominica Ministry of Youth and Sport and included meetings with Dominica National Coach, Kirt Hector, and Dominica National Schools Coach, Ronnie Gustave, to discuss the specifics of the practical sessions during the week and the Saturday session with the Dominica Academy Coaches. A meeting with officials from the Dominica Football Association and the Dominica Referees Association led to an additional workshop and an evening a session with the referees. The soccer coaching workshops involved youth sports officers, primary school teachers, academy coaches and referees and were facilitated in an interactive manner where tasks in both theoretical and practical activities were completed in small groups. Workshop sessions were split between classroom and field with enthusiastic participation by the attendees who were eager to take part in the discussions, session planning and session delivery.  The coaches, teachers and officials were very interested in learning about Canada’s LTPD program and expressed interest in setting up a similar program in their country. They all understand the benefits of stage-appropriate coaching. Many of the coaches who attended mentioned that this was the first coach development session they have had and there is a real need for a more formalised coach education program in Dominica.

On the player side, a soccer skills session was conducted with both District students (10 to 12 year-old boys) and the National Schools Team (U21 men). The boys were involved in technical activities with the focus on passing and receiving skills and the U21 players were involved in a tactical session on playing from the back in a 4-4-2. The players all participated with enthusiasm and a positive attitude and judging from the smiles on their faces, enjoyed their on-field time.