Programme information

THE BREWSTER TRUST, a registered charity in Barbados, offered the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Football League (BSSFL) its support in the second year to implement the new Development Programme to improve the overall standard of football in the secondary schools with the main goals:

  • to promote secondary school football on the island,
  • to raise the standard of youth football as a whole,
  • to educate coaches in coaching techniques and the ability to train and select teams at the youth level,
  • to provide the basis for young players to play structured football more often and so get better at the game of football,
  • to provide coaches and players alike with the necessary equipment to assist in player development and
  • to promote football for the youth on the island with the intention of making the schools’ foot-ball the model for which every other division should follow.

After the completion of the 2013 initiative in November 2013 and based on the experience and the feedbacks from the participating but also “new” schools we are continuing the School Programme for terms two and three of the academic year 2013/2014 – again in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.

Coaching course for schools’ coaches

On Monday, 27th January 2014 the “School Programme 2014” kicked off with a coaching course for the secondary schools’ coaches with in total 34 registered participants representing 19 schools. The course was held by Dean Miller of Arsenal FC at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm daily.

During the three days we had the following elements on our agenda:

  • Passing and receiving incl.  body position, communication, weight of the pass, first touch
  • 1 v 1 defending
  • 1 v 1 attacking
  • Team defending ( e.g. 4 defenders)
  • Combination play
  • Principles of play incl. attack, dispersion, mobility, penetration and defence, delay, compactness, balance
  • Respect and fair play in football, which also will be our focus during the Double Club sessions at the registered schools
  • Coaching the small sided game
  • Individual assessments
  • Some insights with regards to health, nutrition, tactics, motivation or team building

Also included in the course was a match analysis, the BSSFL scheduled the first quarter-final of the actual U-19 competition for Tuesday afternoon; the coaches have seen Daryll Jordan Secondary School versus Pinehill St. Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary School, the St. Lucy team qualified for the semi finals, Jamar Cumberbatch scored in the 79th minute.

All registered coaches had been invited for lunch. The on and off-the-field sessions have been summarised in a documentation with 35 pages that has been given to the coaches at the end of the course combined with the official FIFA Laws of the Game.

THE BREWSTER TRUST thanks the participants for their engagement and passion, well done. A big thank you also to the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, we were allowed to use their facilities over three full days, a generous gesture. A final thank you to Dean Miller of Arsenal FC who travelled to Barbados to conduct the course, we hope to see you back again soon.

Finally some statistics: We started with 34 registered coaches/teachers, 27 (79.41%) attended on Monday, 23 (67.65%) on Tuesday and again 27 (79.41%) on Wednesday. 19 participants (55.88%) attended on all three days; the average attendance of over 75% has significantly improved compared to last year.

Represented schools:

  • Alexandra School
  • Alma Parris Memorial Secondary School
  • Barbados Community College
  • Christ Church Foundation School
  • Coleridge and Parry School
  • Combermere School
  • Daryll Jordan Secondary School
  • Deighton Griffith Secondary School
  • Ellerslie Secondary School
  • Frederick Smith Secondary School
  • Government Industrial School
  • Graydon Sealey School
  • Harrison College
  • Parkinson Memorial Secondary School
  • Princess Margaret Secondary School
  • Springer Memorial Secondary School for Girls
  • The Lester Vaughan School
  • The Lodge School
  • The St. Michael School

Weekly coaching sessions at individual schools

The schedule (term III & term II)

The offer to all Secondary Schools in Barbados

Please consider that we preferentially integrate schools that show interest in participating in all offered elements and that we will act – as usual – on a first come-first served basis as the spaces are limited.

I. Weekly coaching sessions at individual schools

THE BREWSTER TRUST offers weekly coaching courses at individual schools, held by coaches from Arsenal FC / Arsenal in the Community and free of cost.

Option A: Curriculum Sessions
After the pilot programme in 2012 the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation agreed that this kind of programme could be part of the Curriculum. Every week a coaching team comes to the school for a session with students, classes, forms or individuals the school select; the maximum group size is 30 students.

Option B: Double Club
The Double Club sessions are like the Curriculum Sessions with the difference that the first half of the session is held in the classroom with specific workbooks combining academics and football with the main focus on general literacy; the maximum group size is 30 students.

Option C: After school programme
Every week a coaching team comes to the school for an after school football session open to stu-dents; the maximum group size is 50 students.

Option D: Community sessions
Every Saturday morning a coaching team comes to the school for a community session for students but also the school’s neighbourhood; the maximum group size is 50 students.

Further information & details

  • THE BREWSTER TRUST teaches discipline, respect and fair play and sticks to FIFA’s Grassroots programme.
  • Main focus should not be the school’s football team, but students who are in a dire need of a confidence boost and also in the special needs category. With the Double Club the programme also offers assistance in reading, mathematics and the language arts.
  • The sessions will be delivered by a coaching team of two Arsenal coaches.
  • A matter of course for us: teachers / PE instructors / ideally the football responsible person in school is/are available during all sessions as assistants to the coaches.
  • Every session contains at least: proper warm-up, one drill like passing, dribbling, control, shooting etc. and finally a game.
  • A field at the school is needed.
  • No programme during school holidays and/or public holidays.

Schedule Term 2

  • start of Term 2 sessions: Monday, 27th January 2014
  • end of Term 2 sessions: Saturday, 5th April 2014
  • total duration: ten weeks

Schedule Term 3

  • start of Term 3 sessions: Monday, 5th May 2014
  • end of Term 3 sessions: Saturday, 5th July 2014
  • total duration: nine weeks

The weekly schedule
Our weekly schedule provides in general:

  • Mondays to Fridays: two slots for a morning session between 9.00am and 11.30am
  • Mondays to Fridays: two slots for an afternoon session between 12.30pm and 3.00pm
  • Mondays to Fridays: two slots for an after-school session between 3.30pm and 6.00pm
  • Saturdays: two slots for a morning session between 9.00am and 12.00pm
    The weekly detailed schedule will be published in the week of 27th January 2014.

II. Coaching course for coaches

We scheduled the coaching course for the secondary schools’ football coaches, PE teachers or other people in school involved in football including parents from Monday, 27th January 2014, to Wednesday, 29th January 2014, daily 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

The venue:
Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic
Wildey, St. Michael

During the three days we have the following elements on our agenda:

  • Passing and receiving incl.  body position, communication, weight of the pass, first touch
  • 1 v 1 defending
  • 1 v 1 attacking
  • Team defending ( e.g. 4 defenders)
  • Combination play
  • Principles of play incl. attack, dispersion, mobility, penetration and defence, delay, compactness, balance
  • Respect and fair play in football, which also will be our focus during the Double Club sessions at the registered schools
  • Coaching the small sided game
  • Individual assessments
  • Some insights with regards to health, nutrition, tactics, motivation or team building

Head coach will be Dean Miller of Arsenal FC, the course is free of cost, lunch will be provided on all three days.

III. Exchange of ideas

Another offer will be a “roundtable” for all secondary schools to discuss the offered “School Programme” and to formulate future goals and formats; all stakeholders should play a part in developing the “product” according to individual wishes and demands from the schools.

IV. UNICEF workshop

In conjunction with UNICEF and according to the schools’ feedbacks from 2013 we are going to organise another workshop “Child Protection & Sports” in term three for football coaches, PE teachers or other people in schools involved in football. There are also considerations to extend this topic to the students participating in the programme.