A strategic planning and development workshop of the St Thomas Football Association held last Saturday at the offices of the Social Development Commission (SDC) offices in Morant Bay, has been deemed a success.

The session, the first of its kind and the brainchild of the FA’s president Wayne Thompson and his hard-working team, sought to address fundamental issues as they related to the foundation of the parish’s football and the impact on the community on a whole.

“We were very pleased with the participation from a wide cross section of stakeholders, plus the way in which we were able to address the issues regarding the weak administrative structures of the clubs, concerns with the shortage of sponsorship support and the poor state of the playing infrastructure, or the lack thereof,” said Thompson.

Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Jamaica Football Federation, Howard McIntosh, who addressed the workshop, was full of praise for the initiative.

“I had to commend the St Thomas FA for this move, they are showing that they are not just into running competitions, but stepped back to look at the strategic development of the game in the parish… it’s the first I have seen a local FA doing something like this, and I would like to see others following in their footsteps, even at the confederation level,” said McIntosh.

While the football product is essentially “player-centric”, McIntosh would like to remind all associations keen on the broad-based development of the sport that 16 key areas must form the basis of the way forward. They are considered to be coaching, infrastructure, passion, administrators, developments, events, competition, match official, partnership, teams, merchandise, hospitality, performance, facilities, pre- and post-match activities and social engagement.

According to Thompson, who took over the reins of the St Thomas FA last year, the strategic planning process, facilitated by the parish manager of the SDC Lorraine Roberts, started approximately a month ago with a meeting of the executive council of the football body.

“All of what we discussed at the workshop are well established issues and problems we have recognised and targeted in previous meetings of our executive,” said Thompson.

Saturday’s workshop, the first of a planned series, had representatives of corporate Jamaica, referees, coaches, schools, the political directorate and the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO).

Garfield Ellis, who represented JADCO at the eight-hour-long workshop, delivered an impressive presentation featuring audio and video clips. His presentation also provided a background to JADCO and its relationship with the World Anti-Doping Commission.

Also, Ellis introduced the Athlete Guide and other material from JADCO for information.

Participants were placed in groups where proposed development plans for the St Thomas FA for the next two years were examined and debated.

The final document on a policy position going forward is expected to be ready by August 2010 for a formal presentation to all stakeholders.