By Paul Nicholson
January 29 – The first diversity training sessions have been held in St Lucia as part of the CONCACAF grassroots development programme. The confederation plan is to include similar sessions in future grassroots and similar development courses.
The course is part of the Embrace Diversity campaign launched last year. The main theme is ensuring that attention is paid to including everyone in grassroots development. Attendees focussed on issues like how to avoid stereotyping and discrimination, how to be inclusive, providing access to the sport for all and the need for sensitivity in dealing with diverse communities.
The course introduces internationally recognised best practices in the area of inclusivity and non-discrimination. 21 coaches, teachers and community sports workers participated, reporting that the issues were very relevant.
“It is not just about racism but that people should be aware of how easy it is to prejudge people, maybe because of their community or their religion,” said attendee Claudia Lamontagne. “It highlighted that it is good to be mindful of just how diverse communities are in the Caribbean.”
The three-day grassroots development course in the south of Saint Lucia combed intensive classroom education sessions with practical work on the field.
The course focused on coaching techniques for those instructing children aged 6-12 and centered on creating engaging exercises that will encourage greater participation in the game, while also introducing fundamental technical skills.
The program concluded on Saturday with a grassroots festival attended by over 100 local children.
This year grassroots courses will be held across the CONCACAF region and is part of the confederation’s philosophy of assisting social change through football. Attracting participants came from a wide-range of organisations, including local clubs but also from community organisations, voluntary groups, schools and churches.
St Lucia Football Association (SLFA) president Lyndon Cooper encouraged other CONCACAF federations to get involved: “The hope is that this is the beginning of a new generation of football in the region and my advice is to sign up to the programme.”
Cooper said: “The follow-up for us is that as part of the SLFA’s 2014 program of activities we will have national festivals every quarter just to assure that the kids have the opportunity to play at least four times at the national level.”
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