Concacaf A Diploma in T&T
TTFA Continues Coach Education Drive with Concacaf A Diploma Programme
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association continued its commitment to coach development with the latest phase of the 2026 Concacaf A Diploma programme, bringing together 15 coaches from Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean.
The Concacaf A License, also referred to as the A Diploma, represents one of the senior advanced levels within the confederation’s coaching education pathway. It is designed to prepare coaches to work with elite players, national youth and senior teams, and top-level professional club environments.
Delivered under the framework of the Concacaf Coaching Convention, the programme forms part of a wider effort to standardise coach education across the region and ensure that participating Member Associations operate within clearly defined modern coaching benchmarks.
Trinidad and Tobago is among the Concacaf Member Associations delivering advanced coaching education under this structure. Similar A-level and advanced diploma programmes have also been implemented or aligned within associations including Canada, Mexico, the United States and Jamaica. Other countries across the region, including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, Cuba and Puerto Rico, have also participated in the wider Concacaf coaching education framework through accredited programmes and regional candidate development.
The local programme began with an online B License upgrade block from August 17-21, conducted daily from 7:00am to 10:00am. Coaches completed 15 hours of online instruction in addition to assigned course tasks.
The on-site phase followed from August 26-30 at the Ato Boldon Technical Centre and Ato Boldon Stadium, with classroom and field sessions running from 9:00am to 6:00pm daily.
The participating coaches were Dexter Thornhill, Walt Noreiga, Devorn Jorsling, Kieth Jeffrey, Tacuma Jones, Kester Richards, Barry Hackett, Ramon Lara, Julius James and Brian Joseph of Trinidad; Ray Mitchell of Tobago; Yuni Baes and Olivia Greaves of the Turks and Caicos Islands; Richard Forde of Barbados; and Sulaiman Nunes of Guyana/United Kingdom.
The course was led by Coach Educators Anton Corneal and Rajesh Latchoo, with administrative support from Debbie-Ann Yearwood, Jinelle James and Sharon O’Brien.
As outlined in the Concacaf A Diploma syllabus, the programme is designed to support coaches working in elite youth and top amateur environments, while developing the competencies required for higher-level football.
The course focuses on four main areas — the coach, the player and team, training, and the match.
Among the key competencies covered are assessing team needs and creating professional development plans, understanding a club’s philosophy, values and style of play, collaborating with technical staff, planning and supporting individual player development, and managing and evaluating team and player performance.
The training component also places strong emphasis on planning and implementing developmentally appropriate sessions, applying principles of periodisation, designing individual development work and monitoring player performance in collaboration with support staff.
Match preparation and analysis form another important part of the programme, with coaches required to develop pre-match plans, analyse opponents, assess individual and team performances, prepare players for competition and use match evaluation as a learning tool throughout the season.
Local players were incorporated into the practical field sessions during the on-site block. Defence Force’s professional team participated on Thursday August 27, working specifically with coaches Walt Noreiga and Dexter Thornhill to maintain a controlled environment as the players prepared for Concacaf club competition.
St Benedict’s College players were used during the practical sessions on August 28 and 29.
The programme will continue with the next online session scheduled for Tuesday September 8.
The initiative forms part of the TTFA’s wider drive to strengthen the technical development pathway for coaches, raise coaching standards and continue positioning Trinidad and Tobago as an important contributor to coach education within the Caribbean region.
