Speid leads coaches’ qualification push with A Licence
Published:Sunday | December 10, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
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RECENTLY, CAVALIER coach Rudolph Speid became the first of some 30 regional coaches to receive his Concacaf A licence coaching certification, after more than a year of meticulous work. The highly rated coach, who said his next objective is to...
RECENTLY, CAVALIER coach Rudolph Speid became the first of some 30 regional coaches to receive his Concacaf A licence coaching certification, after more than a year of meticulous work.
The highly rated coach, who said his next objective is to complete the Pro licence course, hopes completing the A licence will help motivate other local coaches.
According to Speid, the local coaching landscape is undergoing a revolution, and he is proud to be leading the way forward.
“The trigger point was the Olympic qualifier in 2019 when we had a star-studded under-20 team, and St Kitts and Nevis beat us to go through.
“St Kitts and Nevis had a coach who was teaching us the B licence, and I knew that was the difference for us not going through.
“From that day we have been very serious about the project of getting better coaches in Jamaica,” said Speid.
For Speid, attaining higher qualifications as a coach is something of a personal obsession and he wants to lead from the front in this regard.
“I believe everyone should get qualified and I think I had to lead the way. That was one of my big motivations. For people to say ‘if Speid did it, there is no reason we can’t’,” he said.
The course is understood to be tedious and time-consuming, and he admitted as much.
He disclosed that he had to assess 18 matches. He first scouted teams he would assess and then devised training strategies to deal with the teams.
After that he had to review the games and show what he was doing last year compared to his successes this year.
DIFFICULT PROCESS
He noted that he also had to pick out four players for personal development. Three of the four have gone overseas.
“It was difficult because it’s not just the course itself, there is a lot of work. But I actually predicted the improvements and achieved all of them.
“This was something I was really interested in doing and it has made me a better coach in my local domestic competition. It was tedious but if you really want to do it properly, you have to put in a lot of work.”
One of the reasons he was able to complete the licensing process before the others was that he only coaches one team, unlike many other local coaches, who have multiple teams.
“It is extremely difficult for them but it was right up my street to be able to do it, and that is the reason I was able to finish ahead of most persons.”
With the A licence now achieved, Speid will take some time but contemplates that he will go for his Pro licence in 2025.
Ten other Jamaican coaches are currently undergoing the A licence qualification process, 27 of the 30 are certified B licence holders.
At a recent FIFA/Concacaf coach educators course, several local coaches were certified to teach the C licence course.
That development, Speid believes, now opens a pathway for coaches who are willing to work hard.
“You can do the D and the C, and we have another B coming up in March of next year. So you will be right there if you follow the process, and then the next step would be to do the A licence.
“This is what we have really established here, a road map for coaches, and soon you will have other coaches passing the A licence as well, so people can know that the path is not insurmountable and they can make it,” said the Jamaica Football Federation technical committee chairman.