FIFA FUTURO III Referee Instructor’s Course begins in St. Kitts & Nevis 15th – 21st 2010

The newly elected Minister of Sports the Honourable Glen Phillip officially opened the FIFA FUTURO III Referee Instructor’s Course in a brief ceremony at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort. The event, which is being held under the auspices of the St. Kitts & Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) brings together over thirty participants from Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, BVI, Dominica, Grenada, Netherlands Antilles, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and host country St. Kitts & Nevis.

The course is being facilitated by FIFA’s Referee Development Officer Mr. Ramesh Ramdhan and FIFA’s Fitness Instructor Mr. Merere Gonzales of Trinidad and Tobago, and FIFA’s Referee Instructor Mr. Peter Prendergast of Jamaica. FUTURO III courses use a regional format, assembling and educating instructors selected by the member associations from neighboring countries in a centralized venue. The selected instructors are then expected to impart the knowledge gained through course to the referees in their respective home country.

CONCACAF and CFU are redoubling their efforts to improve the referees’ development programs in the region in response to the declining numbers of referees from the region that are on the FIFA’s list. Recently, the Referees Assistance Program (RAP) was introduced to support referee development in the region. At the recently concluded Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Congress in Trinidad and Tobago, Refereeing was highlighted as one of the main areas of concern for the continued development of football in the region.

Attending the six day course from the Federation are Stuart Rawlins and Troy Mills of the St. Kitts Referees Association, Leroy Greene from the Nevis Football Association. In addition, Ms Judith Isles will be trained as the Referees Fitness Instructor for the Federation.

The course is the first of its type to be hosted in St. Kitts and Nevis, and emphasized the high importance that is given to referee development by the new SKNFA Executive under the leadership of President Anthony Johnson. In November, 2009 the SKNFA hosted its first FIFA Elite Referee training course in the Federation.

Also, arriving in St. Kitts for the opening ceremony was Mr. Daryll Warner FIFA Development Officer for the Caribbean Region and his Assistant Mr. Newton George.