WEDNESDAY, MAY 16: A top French expert is to help train the next generation of Bermuda football coaches, it was revealed today.
Jacques Crevoisier is to team up with Bermuda counterpart Andrew Bascome of the ABC Football School for a new coach education and licensing programme designed to improve the game on the island.
A series of handbooks has been drawn up to covering the junior game from under-10s to 18 year olds and will be used by up to 15 Bermuda clubs which offer youth football training.
In addition, Bermuda coaches who take part in the ABC scheme will gain internationally-recognised UEFA equivalent C licences.
The C license course will start this month, with the first certifications expected by September.
Selected coaches will go on the B license course, run by Mr Crevoiser in conjunction with the Scottish Football Association (SFA), which is expected to start in the fall of this year.
Announcing the move, Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney said: “I cannot emphasise enough the significance of this opportunity and how much it will mean to the development of football in Bermuda.
“I wish to thank Andrew Bascome and the ABC Football School for their vision and their dedication to furthering the development of football in Bermuda and youth development in particular.”
Mr Blakeney thanked Mr Crevoiser, who has worked on the island before, for taking part in the scheme.
He added: “I am confident that this programme will be very successful and in years to come the entire community will benefit from this initiative.”
Mr Crevoiser has a degree in sports psychology and is a technical instructor with EUFA.
He has been the French national U-18 coach and has taken teams to the UEFA U-18 finals thre times.
He worked as first coach at Liverpool FC’s between 2001-03 and is a technical consultant to several French league clubs, including St Etienne and Monaco.
He is also involved with top-flight English Premiership sides Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, where he advises on psychology.