BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan. 13, 2021– Football fans are yearning for the day football returns to the field of play in Belize, which has been in a Covid-19 lockdown on sports for months now; and they may be not too enthusiastic about the recent initiatives of the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) under the present restrictive conditions. But the FFB is pushing forward nonetheless with its in-house plans for youth football development, and they are optimistic that, despite the Covid-19 restrictions, their two current initiatives, namely the “Football For Schools” and “EvoSoccer” programs, will have a major impact on youth and female football development in Belize.
Discussions began on December 31, 2020, for the implementation of the FFB’s proposed “Football For Schools” program which is intended to reach full implementation in primary schools across the country by the time the next school year begins in September 2021, and will target children, male and female, from age four right through to age fifteen. According to the plan, during the upcoming months before September, by which time it is anticipated that the Covid-19 lockdown will be over, FFB will be providing online learning and training for players and coaches, as well as train teachers to become football “coach educators.” With funding provided by FIFA, the project, which will assist with footballs and other training equipment, will target “100 schools, 300 teachers, and 10,000 boys and girls in year one,” and expand to “250 schools, 750 teachers and 25,000 boys and girls by year four.”
And just yesterday, the FFB held a Zoom meeting to introduce its “EvoSoccer” skills training program. The fifty-two (52) week online platform focusing on individual attacking skills is planned to engage one hundred and eighty (180) youth national team players, male and female, from three age categories: U-15, U-17 and U-19. In addition, some twenty (20) coaches are being selected to monitor the performance of the players, each of whom will receive a football and a code to access his or her weekly drill and “MUST train for a minimum of thirty (30) minutes daily.”
The FFB provided two lists of 190 names each for male and female players, U-15, U-17 and U-19 from each of the ten (10) football zones of the country: Stann Creek, Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize, Belmopan, Cayo, Benque Viejo, San Pedro, Toledo, and Mid-South.
Our check at the evosoccer.co.uk web site revealed its mantra – Education through soccer; and its Vision and Philosophy as follows:
EvoSoccer has been developed to provide personal and bespoke mentoring programme for young aspiring football players. Here we #DecodeTheGame into 15 different aspects, unlocking the key components that underpin elite performance:
Ball Literacy – Ball Juggling – Evasion Skills – Passing & Receiving
Attacking – Defending – Physical Literacy – Speed & Agility – Set Pieces
Position Specific – Social Approach – Mental Approach
Performance Lifestyle – Targets & Goal Setting – Performance Review
The aim of EvoSoccer is not to take away from the fantastic work done by grass roots clubs and academy coaches, but to be detailed in our approach to support every child’s technical, tactical mental and social development. Providing them with a personalised plan that supports them through 2500+ Apprentice, Ace, Pro and Master levels of skill development.