The Bahamas Football Association Referee Department conducted its yearly FIFA RAP Course in the Bahamas, Nassau on 25-28 June 2022 at the Breezes Hotel and Resort.
This year our local Instructors were, led by our head of referee ( HOR ), CONCACAF Instructor and Assessor Miss Dianne Ferreira-James, MA Technical Instructor Mr. Raymond Charles, MA Fitness Instructor Mr. Jeremy Holland Jr., and local Mr. Joseph Edwards, as well as an instructor in Training from Turks and Caicos TCIFA Mr. Leonard Suckrajh. There were a total of Seventeen (17) participants from Nassau eleven (11), Grand Bahama four (4), and TCIFA two (2), along with attendees in FIFA RDO Javier Santos, FIFA Technical Instructor Victor Stewart, Concacaf Fitness instructor Rohan Thobourne, Head of Refereeing and technical instructor Dianne Ferreira-James, BFA Academy Director and FIFA Beach/Futsal Instructor Wilson Da Costa. The dedication and commitment shown by the participants daily were encouraging.
The following topics were covered
- Challenges/tackles
- Penalty Area decisions
- Tactical fouls (SPA / DOGSO)
- Offside
- Teamwork
- Video Testing – Law covered (25 Clips)
Fitness test and Practical
Referees were subjected to a fitness test which was concluded on Saturday and the field sessions were divided into two areas of focus and conducted by Mrs. Ferreira-James and Mr. Raymond Charles and Wilson Da Costa (Technical) Mr. Wilson Da Costa and Mr. Jeremy Holland Jr. and Mr. Joey Edwards (fitness),
Fitness Session – field (AR Agility)
- Technical Sessions- (flag handling/alignment/signals/offside / foul decisions)
- Practical sessions- Saturday (Fitness Test -Stadium) and Recovery at a beach in the afternoon.
- While Sunday sessions comprised (2) Field Sessions. Fitness and practical (R.A.L.D. Field)
In conclusion, this course highlights the strength and the key points for development but the gap isn’t much.
FIFA RDO Mr. Javier Santos was impressed by the level of referees’ participation enthusiasm and dedication
