By Rajiv Bisnauth

AIMING at embracing a structured programme for development, President of the East Demerara Football Association (EDFA) Alfred King has revealed that the association plans to invest heavily in coaches, since it’s the way forward for the next generation of football stars.King made the disclosure yesterday at the Department of Culture, Youth and Sports, where the EDFA handed over a complete football coaching kit to six clubs on the East Coast of Demerara.
“We believe that we must start with the coaches and we started that earlier in the year when 30 persons were exposed to two days of coaching. Currently, we are in the process of putting together an effective programme to ensure our coaches go through what will be a licensed kind of experience, and we are hoping, therefore, that an instructor from Trinidad, who we are engaging through Mr. Shabazz, will be here by mid or end of this month to work with coaches in order to enhance their skills and competence,” King said.
He added: “And then once that is done we attach these coaches to various teams and charge them with the responsibility to go back and implement some of the things they would have learnt.”
King is optimistic that with the kind of strategy in the making, the requisite atmosphere for football development on the East Coast will be better off over the next few years.
“Once we have real strong clubs that will be competing nationally, we will have more players who will be vying for national places at every level of football,” King concluded.
Meanwhile, the clubs that benefited from yesterday’s donation are Ann’s Grove, Buxton Stars, BV/ Triumph United, Victoria Kings Football Club, Bachelors Adventure/Paradise Sports Club and Golden Stars.