NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (May 02, 2024)- A cadre of Sports Officers and coaches on Nevis is now certified to administer the FIFA Football For Schools programme at schools across the island.

The sports administrators completed an intensive two-day workshop facilitated by Mr. Antonio Sanchez, FIFA Football For Schools Manager on April 29 and 30, 2024.

He explained that the programme incorporates life skills such as problem-solving, and the importance of teamwork into the sport, merging education and football for the young students. The aim is create not just better football players but well-rounded individuals.

The programme comes with the FIFA Football For Schools mobile application which provides extensive content on teaching sessions for the sports administrators to glean from as they manage the programme in their respective schools.

The participants underwent in-class training as well as practical demonstration sessions on the football field, followed by an exam and a ‘festival’ with student players from primary schools across Nevis at the Nevis Athletic Stadium.

St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) President Mr. Atiba Harris was on hand at a closing ceremony for the workshop on Tuesday, and thanked the participants for sacrificing their time to complete training for the first-ever Football For Schools programme in the Federation.

He thanked the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) for hosting the launch of the programme and FIFA for its continued support of the development of football in St. Kitts and Nevis.

Mr. Jamir Claxton, Director of Sports on Nevis and Deputy General Secretary of the SKNFA, thanked the FIFA organization for including St. Kitts and Nevis in their development plan, as well as its representatives, Regional Development Manager Ms. Malaika Church and Mr. Sanchez for traveling to Nevis to work with local stakeholders to begin implementation of the FIFA Football For Schools programme.

“I think our coaches would have learned a lot over the past couple of days and so we expect to see it implemented in our schools and we expect to see football on the island growing because of a programme such as this. We are extremely appreciative of programmes like these here in the Federation.

“The Ministry of Sports and Education is doing this in collaboration with the SKNFA and we’re doing it for you the students and we are hoping to see some superstars in the not too distant future,” he said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Ms. Zahnela Claxton and SKNFA President Harris distributed certificates of completion to the 22 participants.