CALEB Wales, Trinidad and Tobago's assistant referee who was appointed to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals in Qatar, was among 30 local officials benefitting from the FIFA Referees Assistance Programme course which concluded on Sunday at the TT Football Association's (TTFA) Technical Centre, in Couva.
The instructors assigned by FIFA to conduct the course were technical instructor Peter Prendergast of Jamaica, fitness instructor Alan Brown of Costa Rica and Javier Santos - FIFA Refereeing Development Officer for the English-speaking Caribbean.
Among the local referees participating included those with international experience such as Ainsley Rochard, Rodphin Harris, Carisa Jacob, Cecile Hinds, Crystal Sobers and Nikolai Nyron, as well as TT's Women Under-20 player Charlize Hood.
'The RAP course was beneficial as it reminded me what I need to work on and improve on ahead of the major world tournament such as the World Cup,' Wales said.
Wales added that courses such as the FIFA RAP was vital for the ongoing recruitment and development of referees for both domestic and international football.
'It helped address weaknesses and improve strengths of our referees, instructors and the support systems such as administrative, recruiting and training,' he said. 'A course like this also equips local referees with the tools needed to service the game of football, including knowledge and experience of leading instructors of the world, physical training and technical skills.
'The course was great because for the five days we were based at the Home of Football and that helped strengthen the bonds we have as a referee family,' Wales added.
Among the critical areas addressed during the course included fitness tests and evaluation, video quizzes with feedback and hot topics like the handball laws, offside, tactical fouls and challenges.
The course involved field and classroom sessions with some of the topics being covered including fouls and misconduct challenges, tactical fouls, handball, positioning and movement, and offsides.
List of Participating Referees: Crystal Sobers, Cecile Hinds, Carissa Jacob, Caleb Wales, Ainsley Rochard, Kwinsi Williams, Nikolai Nyron, Rodphin Harris, CJ O'Brien, Kerwin Colley, Timothy Derry, Keron Myers, Kevin Lewis, Johann Corneille, Shash Ramsaroop, Noel Moore, Yarin Gosine, Andrew Samuel, Melissa Nicholas, Charlize Hood, Nathalya Williams, Kimya James, Caldwel Orr, Trevin Pascall, Kyle Critchlow, Miguel Joseph, Odile Brewster, Akil Weekes, Analyse Delandro, Ayodele Codjoe.
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