ROBERT Hadad, chairman of the FIFA Normalisation Committee for TT, has given his endorsement of an ongoing FIFA coaches education course for women, which began at the Home of Football in Couva, on Wednesday.

The course is part of Fifa's Coach Education Scholarship programme and is the first being undertaken locally for over two years.

Several current and past national women's team players are signed up.

'It's been a difficult two years trying to get settled down... It's taken a while to understand (TT) football, get on top Trinidad football, and more so the finances, the financial obligations of the association.

'This is a great initiative and I hope the first of many to come.'

Hadad congratulated national women's team head coach Kenwyne Jones for his success with the team.

'But I have to hold back a little bit,' Hadad said, tongue in cheek, 'because we have two more games to win and then we have to qualify for that (women's) World Cup... That's going to be absolutely amazing.'

On February 17, the senior women's team defeated Nicaragua 2-1 in both team's first qualifying match for the 2022 Concacaf Women's Championship (a qualification tournament for the 2023 Fifa World Cup), before beating Dominica 2-0 in the second match days later. The team sit joint top of the standings after two match-days, behind a free-scoring Guyana team on goal-difference, with three matches to play.

Turning his attention to the course applicants, he said, 'Ladies, I hope one day one of y'all replace him (Jones) as the head of the women's national team.'

'I have learnt in leadership, the one and most important characteristic (in a leader) is charisma - getting people to like you. You can be as good as you want to be (technically), you can be as fit as you want to be... If your players don't like you as a coach, you're not going to get anything out of them.

'God gave you two ears and one mouth - to listen twice as much as you speak.'

Hadad lamented the lack of competitive football for over two years.

'It seems almost far-fetched to say it loud but at the risk of goat-mouthing a good thing, we are at last beginning to see some positives.'

Jones was also present at the course opening, as well as recently appointed technical director Anton Corneal and director of women's football Jinelle James, all of whom encouraged the women to seize the opportunity to become certified coaches.

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