The FIFA delegation which visited Jamaica to conduct a workshop last Saturday and Sunday has found the region’s current progress to be satisfactory and will target additional growth for 2015 and beyond.

The workshop focused on developmental issues in the CONCACAF region. Based on the discussions and presentations coming out of the workshop, it was agreed that a more focused and strategic approach will be the aim for 2015.

The model for achieving further growth within CONCACAF, the football technocrats concluded, will lie in the strengthening of the relationship between FIFA and CONCACAF, and this will manifest itself in the continued implementation of grass-roots, women’s and youth football programmes as well as further developing other versions of the game such as beach football and futsal.

The importance of establishing a properly structured coaching and club licensing programme within the sub-continental CONCACAF region was also discussed.

The aim moving forward, the participants said, is to have CONCACAF teams, not only qualifying for international tournaments, but being a competitive force in competitions across all variations of the sport.

The group also addressed the viability of several programmes and training courses as the FIFA development staff strategised for 2015.

FIFA development officer and host of the workshop, Jamaican Howard McIntosh, was pleased with the outcome of the meeting of FIFA’s technical development and development officers.

“I am pleased with progress that we have made as the FIFA development staff for the CONCACAF region. 2014 was a massive year as we had three of our four representatives advancing to the knockout stage and Costa Rica making it to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup.

“For 2015, we have the Gold Cup coming up, as well as the Copa America in Chile where Jamaica and Mexico are set to participate,” said McIntosh.

The long-serving football administrator revealed that the workshop achieved all objectives set. “The FIFA development staff must now focus our efforts on ensuring that we continue to implement programmes and facilitate necessary training courses for continued growth and development in the region due to the success we have enjoyed recently,” said McIntosh.

The FIFA delegation included Juerg Nepfer, head of education and technical development; Gregory Engelbrecht, senior manager of development programmes of the Americas; Angenie Kanhai, FIFA development officer for the North-West Caribbean; Julio Rocha, FIFA development officer for Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean; Marcos Tinoco, technical development officer for the North-West Caribbean; Anton Corneal, technical development officer for the South-East Caribbean and Rodrigo Kenton, technical director for Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.