Closing the International Football gap



After weeks of derailment I have finally had my lost laptop replaced. Now there is the matter of the four weeks for which I was unable to present feedback to you my people. There is so much catching up to do and so much to share. Nevertheless, we will make a start and then take things in strides until we have closed the gap.



After weeks of derailment I have finally had my lost laptop replaced. Now there is the matter of the four weeks for which I was unable to present feedback to you my people. There is so much catching up to do and so much to share. Nevertheless, we will make a start and then take things in strides until we have closed the gap.

On a broader and more significant scale there is the caveat of sustained performance, success and development that exists between our beloved country Jamaica and world super powers like Germany. Without getting ahead of myself and falling into illusions I am of a steady conviction that with deliberate and steadfast actions we can gradually close this caveat. On my last visit to Brazil I had the good fortune of having a conversation with professor Rene Simoes. In his own inimitable style he charged my colleagues and I to dare to dream and to dream big, why not? After all this is the conviction of the man who helped us achieve our biggest football dream so far.

The last couple of weeks has helped to reinforce my convictions about some aspects of the state of our football in Jamaica. Already clear to me is that the JFF/JMMB/UTECH Coaching School is on the right path. With a little tweaking and advancement of our programs, and the addition of other qualifications, as have already been proposed, the Coaching School’s relevance and effectiveness will be exponentially increased. This will naturally redound to greater improvements in the quality of our football.

Not to be ignored is the depth and quality of work being done by the GC Foster College. By comparison, from the perspective of Patrick Graham – A GC Foster graduate also here on the course, there are, so far, few marginal, yet significant differences in several of the topics presented, especially in  Kinesiology and Sports Medicine.

As I begin to compare the differences between coaching and the development of coaches in Jamaica and Germany three words standout: Organization, Details and Discipline. 

Germans are very organized and structured people, even in their personal lives. They are very disciplined and task focused. At a training session of the German National U-16 team for example the following observations were made. A full forty-five minutes  before the scheduled start the team videographer arrived and immediately started to set up his equipment to video the session. About ten minutes later the assistant coaches and physical trainers arrived to set up the field for the main part of training and the warm up respectively. The head coach, other staff (16 in total) and the players arrived last, ten minutes before start time. Everything worked like the hands of a clock, all sixteen staff members clearly knew their roles and tasks, so too the eighteen players. For exactly one hour and ten minutes, for the main activity, the players and coaches worked on one focused, detailed activity. A set of routines that proved automatic in the game against their Czech Republic counterparts a few days later, Germany won 3-2.

Despite the numerous individualized tasks and focuses there is never a departure from the main objective. In our course, we do ten subjects and with the exception of German all the other lecturers use pointed opportunities or situations to reference the work done in previous lectures by colleagues and the interrelatedness and relevancy to the individual subject being taught. For example, it is now norm to hear comments like “as you’d have recalled from the last class with X lecturer when you did Y topic”. In our practical classes this kind of focus on main objectives regardless of however many individual aspects is constantly reinforced.  In other words all individual aspects must be included and accounted for without losing sight of the main objective. Additionally in training, the questions of what to train, why train what to train and how to train what is trained must always be answered. If our objective is to coach dribbling, for example, then we must first answer these questions and then develop and execute a session that allows no other technique or tactic to be considered or made relevant. Much more to be said!

In the weeks of no feedback I have gone to a Bundesliga match, Hanover 96 vs Werder Bremen, I have watched three third division league games of RB Leipzig, our reference club on this course, I have watched Champions league games at a public viewing as will be the case when the World Cup starts, I have been to the students union, gotten to know my way around the city and had a day in one of the nearby parks.

The experiences in the stadiums are exhilarating, the crowds almost never sit and they sing and shout before the games start until they depart each other’s company – even in the streets after the game. They are, quite simply, extremely passionate about their sports. The level of play at the third division is much better and consistent than in our Premier League. 

Watching matches in one of the bars at the students union is not too dissimilar from watching live in the stadiums, except in the stadiums every second person is smoking – Smoking is a way of life here in Leipzig. The crowd sings and cheers, clap and boo just the same, it’s awesome. 

The disco at the students union is a mixed bag. I have to present my student ID and Passport and then pay three Euros to get in. On the inside people do not talk to you if they do not know you so easily, beers are cheaper than Coca Cola and the music is all over the place. Only Sean Paul, Busy Signal and one other Jamaican artiste is played even though many songs in English are played. 

Through my Zambian friend, Davies Phiri, on whom I will share a story soon, I met a South African brother Mdu. He claims so much love and regard for Jamaica yet before me, he had never met a Jamaican even though he has pretended to be Jamaican to get by on occasions. That’s a story by itself. 

Mdu invited Davies and I to see how Germans enjoy their Sunday’s, once the weather is good.  Families and friends gather in the local park for barbecues, games and to just bathe in the sun. The food was ok and the interaction with Mdu, his wife and friends was a relaxing one.

On a more personal level I have since been elected speaker of the football class ahead of three colleagues who had also put themselves forward for the position. The respect and appreciation of my colleagues have been very humbling and at the same time invigorating. To be so well received and respected by my peers and lecturers of no prior acquaintance is very inspiring. 

As my understanding of Germans and German culture gets better I have found it much easier to adopt. My German is still not conversational but I am now better able to understand a few things when I hear them and to communicate simple needs or ideas. If all goes well I should soon have a tandem partner who will help me improve my German as I help her improve her English.

Writer: Andrew C Edwards