Vin Blaine appointed director of football in Belize
BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) — Vin Blaine, former head coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz, has been appointed director of football for the Football Federation of Belize (FFB).
Blaine, who previously held the same post with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), signed a two-year contract last week with an option to renew.
According to Blaine, who also served as technical director of football in Grenada and director of football for the US Virgin Islands, his mission in Belize is to build a competitive international programme, while changing the way the game is organised and administered.
“One vision, one mission — that is what we want. I want to see their football able to challenge for titles, and I would like to see the development and improvement of the game here, as well as improvements in young referees and refereeing.
“I would like to leave a legacy where a local director of football can take over when I leave,” Blaine said.
Blaine has already turned his attention to three upcoming tournaments. Belize’s senior team will contest Nations League football in September and October, the Under-15 boys will travel to Azerbaijan for a World Cup festival, while the Under-16s will compete in the Central American Football Union tournament in El Salvador.
Blaine said he believed Belize has significant talent, particularly among Latin American and Spanish expatriates who bring a different style of play.
“The reason why I came this early is because they have several things happening in October, all around the same time. I’ve had several meetings with the coaches. I have another meeting on Monday with the U15, U16 and U17 coaches. I have to hit the ground running.
“We have not named a squad yet for Nations League training. We are going to make that assessment on the full weekend of Belize Premier League games, to see if we can find any talent that was never invited in the first place. I want to make Belize more competitive internationally. I have started my assessment already and when the time comes, everyone will know exactly what the expectations are,” Blaine said.
