The five months here in Leipzig have come and gone and with it an immense amount of knowledge, new and expanding networking, new friendships, new experiences, and of course new expectations and challenges.

It is therefore only natural to take a look back and see what, in addition to our bags, we are taking back.

Before getting into what we are taking back, let me state categorically that I endorse this course 100 per cent and hope that in the years to come Jamaica’s participation will be a norm and not an oddity. Not only should we facilitate the attendance of football coaches, but also coaches in other disciplines such as track and field, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, swimming, gymnastics, conditions training and sports for disabled athletes.

So after five months, my colleagues and I will be certified as global experts in sports, football, track and field (for the French), conditions training (for the Spanish) and training for athletes with disabilities (Arabic) to be specific. Personally, I know I am still some way from becoming an expert, there is still much to learn, and the time to put to the test what has been learned into practice is now.

Further, I will be the first to acknowledge that becoming an expert will require continued learning and development, and also executing or putting to work the knowledge. Hence, this must serve as an appetiser for new knowledge in the field.

Some of the areas that struck a chord with me and which, over time, I hope will become a bigger part of how we do things in Jamaica (a lot of these concepts are not necessarily new) are as follows:

o Long-term performance development

o Talent identification and promotion; structured analysis of players

o Structure of development

o Coaching education locally and internationally

o Player education to include homework assignments tied to micro or meso-cycle themes.

o Playing philosophy/idea of play

o Training and training concepts

o Periodisation to include loading, adaptation and recovery followed by performance diagnostics

o Physical training and fitness

o Annual/bi-annual coaches conference

o Establishment and development of talent centres and talent bases

o Remodelling our grass-roots programme and restructuring of youth football

o Additional and expanded mergers and partnerships with academia and sports

Studying at an international university, having direct interactions with people from over 40 different countries and meeting others along the way, have created numerous opportunities for new friendships and network building. I have established some very good relations and now it’s all about exploring possibilities for benefiting from these relationships. Thanks also to ambassador Margaret Jobson and her wonderful staff at the Jamaican Embassy in Berlin. I was able to, with paraphernalia and brochures, introduce Jamaica on a wider scale; already there are some pledges for visits, let’s see how that goes.

The new experiences are too many to mention, but I will savour as many as I can for a long time and utilise them as best as possible to grow myself and football in Jamaica. The big consequence of these new experiences and knowledge is that the bar has been raised for you even if you haven’t done so yourself and I am so looking forward to testing myself in my work as a coach and also as an instructor.

Editor’s note: Andrew Edwards is a teacher and football coach at Munro College and head coach of Jamaica’s National Under-17 football team.