Can Foreign Coaches Transform Belizean Football?
The Football Federation of Belize has officially ushered in a new era for local football with the appointment of veteran Jamaican strategist Vin Blaine as its new Technical Director and Peruvian football legend Martin Dall’ Orso Patri as national team coach. Blaine is best known for his transformative work leading Jamaica’s national women’s program and steps into the role on a two-year contract aimed at overhauling Belizean football development from the grassroots to the national selection. At today’s press conference, FFB President Sergio Chuc spoke of Patri’s familiarity with Belize and Blaine spoke of his dual mission of immediately elevate the country’s competitive standard, while simultaneously mentoring local coaches to ensure a long-term legacy for the sport.
Sergio Chuc, President, Football Federation of Belize
“He has been with us in Belize football for some time now. He has coached the reigning champion in more than one occasion when he has been here and he has always come out on top. And that is all I need to say why the Federation chose him at this point, because as you know, we are getting ready for the Nations League that starts towards the end of September and so we needed to bring in a coach that knows the Belizean football landscape, knows the Belizean players, and what better than this gentleman who has won the title at the highest level of football in Belize.”
Vin Blaine, Technical Director, Football federation of Belize
“It’s development all over. It’s just about development of players and coaches. And I think, for me being here, I’ve been here probably around two weeks, I think and I’ve watched some games. I was really pleased with what I see, especially the under-thirteen boys and the under-fifteen girls. I think we have lots of talent here. It’s for us not to concentrate on how we’re going to develop them. I think we started on the right foot. We have a very hard camp here. The girls are coming in every Saturday, going forward, while the boys are in camp. They’re coming in between training on a Saturday. So we’re looking at that. The referee development is in good hands, so that’s not something I’m worried about. But the important thing here is to get the coaches up to standard, where we can develop the youngsters with the maximum amount of talent that we have. And as I said before, I’m looking forward to being here for the next few years and see how far we can get this program going.”
The Technical Director’s post was previously held by Belizean Phillip Marin, who resigned earlier this year to take up a similar post with football federation in Barbados.
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