The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF ) on Saturday announced the official launch of CONCACAF NextPlay, a comprehensive, grass roots development programme that promotes access to football within the region while leveraging the power of the game for good.

CONCACAF NextPlay is also a grass roots participation and mentoring programme for children, administered in six-week modules to provide the participants with the tools to learn the game of football while fostering a wide range of social values.

NextPlay is executed in partnership with CONCACAF’s member associations as well as local schools and governments.

CONCACAF NextPlay will deliver widely on a core principle of the One CONCACAF Vision — providing access to play the game in meaningful and sustainable ways.

CONCACAF, along with its member associations, will partner with governments, schools and volunteers across the region to create a grass roots football delivery platform that will serve as an engine for both football growth and positive social impact in their respective markets.

Simultaneously, other member associations in The Bahamas, Barbados, and St Vincent & the Grenadines launched programmes on Saturday. A fifth programme slated for Trinidad & Tobago will kick off in a month’s time.

“NextPlay is built on solid methodology to train coaches and work with young people on and off the field, while championing the social values of sport,” said CONCACAF director of Development Jason Roberts.

“In addition to teaching kids the fundamentals of how to play the game, we are harnessing the love for our game to instil the right values and transmit messages that will stay with these kids and young adults for a lifetime — whether they go on to become professional footballers, doctors, educators, or the like,” Roberts said.

“We are really excited about NextPlay; it is a programme that has been a long time in the making. We are targeting four schools in Jamaica — Jones Town Primary, Braeton Primary, Port Henderson and Iris Gelly. We are using football to try to change people’s lives,” said the former Grenadian international.

Speaking on behalf of Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts, Vice-President Raymond Anderson said Jamaica was delighted to be a part of the first set of countries involved in NextPlay.

“The JFF feels special in that Jamaica has been chosen to be the lead country with this very important initiative, even though we know it is being activated in other countries in the Caribbean today (Saturday).

“We are very proud of our grass roots programme that was carried across parishes between 2011-2014, but we are aware that it needs to go wider and deeper and must be sustainable. This is the only way to build for the future. We congratulate CONCACAF for leading the way,” Anderson said.

Funding for the six-week programme in Jamaica will come from CONCACAF the JFF and the Jamaican Government, with the hope that it will go beyond just six weeks. The emphasis will be on achieving behavioural changes in the participants who have not been chosen necessarily for their skills in football, but help needed in other areas of their lives.

— Dwayne Richards