NASSAU, The Bahamas – In a move geared towards developing the next generation of players in The Bahamas, Dynamos Football Club (FC) was the first to kick-start the Inter House Football aspect of The Bahamas Football Association’s (BFA) SMART GOALS initiative at the SC McPherson Junior High School.
Held February 15th, 17th and 20th at the school’s football field during the lunch break period, male and female students drawn from the Marlins, Grouper, Wahoo, and Dolphins Houses participated in the first-of-a-kind programme under the Bahamas Football Association (BFA).
According to the BFA, SMART GOALS was designed to pair the nine-affiliated clubs with schools to grow football in the education and club system throughout the Bahamas.
Dion Peterson, Dynamos FC president, lauded the programme while adding “we hope to encourage more students to play football because it’s a very enjoyable sport, and we would like to see the sport continue to grow in our country.”
Funding, according to Peterson will be a challenge for the continuity of the programme, pointing out, “it’s difficult to obtain funding for the programme, however, Dynamos FC would assist in any way that we can and, we’re also looking for partners from the business community to help with the programme.”
Meanwhile, Principal of SC McPherson, Shavanna Darville, was full of praises for the programme, highlighting the renewed interest in football at the institution, with the students eager to display their silverware to their peers.
As it relates to the continuity of the programme at the school, Darville said the school will need the assistance of the BFA.
“I recommend a train the trainer program for house coordinators and outstanding athletes so that they can be available to train / explain the game to others”, said Darville.
She added, “Another idea could be to play at 3:15 this would give students a chance to play and not have to worry about being sweaty and going to class.”
The BFA describes the programme as a mutually beneficial relationship between football clubs and public schools to provide each other with resources to assist in the holistic development of student-athletes and the sport.
Each club was paired with a primary, junior, and senior government public school.
Each school had to select one of two partnership models – Home Club or Away Club, while each club and school will work together to develop, implement and maintain football programmes, life skills programmes, facility development programmes and competitions at their schools.
The BFA said though each partnership and programme will be different, the goals are the same; work together to create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals to ensure the success of the partnership and programmes.
