Coach Mitchum Stanford, left, meets with Brazilian soccer legend Dada Maraviha.

Mitchum Sanford, President of the Sports Association of the Sister Islands (SASI) and Head Football Coach of the Sister Islands, recently successfully completed the Galo Coaching Course in Brazil.

Mitchum, who is also the President of the Sister Islands Football Association, an affiliate member of the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA), did an intensive eight-day course at separate sporting facilities in Brazil, one of the most renowned and popular football countries in the world.

In a brief interview, Mr Sanford pointed out that these thorough courses have provided him with a wealth of knowledge regarding the way the Brazilian professional academies organize, apply and develop their athletes from youth to professional levels.

“This exposure has given me more extensive knowledge on systems of play and general training methodology but most of all it has reinstated my standard of programming specifically for the Youth teams,” he said.

“The huge difference between youth football players in Brazil and the Cayman Islands is that they all aspire to become professional players. They are more committed and have great drive and desires towards training and development.”

Mr Stanford added: “The Cayman Islands can go forward in football if we adopt the Brazilian pattern, there is a lot of potential in these players here on the islands. Our greatest failure is our culture and the environment. This is holding us back once we get past this the world will see our youngsters performing in internationally.

“It was worth the effort doing this course in Brazil and my next plan is to go to Europe to learn the European models in the Netherlands or Spain.”

Meanwhile, President of CIFA Jeffrey Webb congratulated Mr Sanford for his passion for football which has driven him to the point of making this marvellous effort to continue to educate and develop himself as a coach.

“This move is a significant investment, Sanford has always been an inspiration to the sports in the Sister islands. This course will certainly help him to pass on higher standards of education and development to the young players and the other coaches on the islands as well,” Mr Webb said.

As part of the course in Brazil, Mr Sanford received lectures at the CBF Headquarters from 1-3 December from Brazilian Women’s Under 17 Coach Marcus Gaspar, Brazilian Men’s Under-16 Coach Lucho Nizzo and had training sessions with the national Under-16 team before they departed the country for football friendlies in California, USA.

On 3-8 December at the Club Athletico Mineiro he received lectures from coaches, physical trainers, athletics directors, physiotherapist and Brazilian legend Dada Maravilha. He also did training sessions with the Under-13, Under-4, Under-15 and Under-17 teams.

In addition, he participated in a friendly match between CAM Under-17 versus Juventus Under-17, and a professional game between clubs Cruzeiro and Flamengo.

Thirteen coaches from across the globe, the USA, Australia, Chile Cayman Brac and Canada, attended this course. It was organised by the World Class Coaching Organization from the United States.