The new technical director for Saint Lucia football wants to unite local and overseas players and also build a stronger football infrastructure for the future.
Right now, Miran Louis is confident that the senior men’s national team will do well in the current international matches.
The Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) is currently running four local tournaments and preparing two national teams. The Under-15 boys are getting ready for the World Football Festival in Tashkent, while the senior men will start the CONCACAF Nations League on Friday at Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
“[The Under-15s] look very good,” said Louis. “They look up for the fight. We made it very clear, bringing them together, that we want to go out and compete; we don’t want to only participate.
“The senior team, they are all up for it. They are excited to welcome the players that are coming from abroad as well, anxious to get them into camp, which we go in on the 21st, and we go out to compete.”
The Piton Boyz, now coached by Rajesh Latchoo, have about a dozen players from the Saint Lucia Semi-Professional Football League. The team also includes local players who play abroad and foreign-born players who qualify as citizens through their family ties.
The SLFA has long aimed to qualify for a World Cup. Louis said finding higher-level players is important for building a strong national team, but he also cautioned that improving the local league is just as important.
“I am a strong believer in strengthening the local base of football on the island,” Louis said. “Also, we are moving towards improving our global scouting network outside of Saint Lucia. That’s something the SLFA started before I came in, and I think that is a good approach. We need the best to actually compete at the highest level and to give us that World Cup qualification.”
The veteran coach and administrator has worked at home and in England, with teams including New Generation Football Club, GMC United, Gros Islet, the national Under-17 girls, and the national men’s Under-20 team. He sees youth football as the area where he wants to focus his efforts.
“There is a lot of football going on in Saint Lucia at the minute, and Saint Lucia’s football, I can say, is moving in the right direction,” asserted Louis. “However, I think that we need to solidify the structures, especially from the grassroots area going all the way up. The majority of the changes that we would want to see in the football on the island must start from our grassroots area.”
On officiating, another major concern, Louis again wants to turn to the youth.
“My conversation with the president, general secretary, the executive of the SLFA is actually going into our school system,” he said. “I think increasing the referee pool is very important for improving the officiating on the island. We don’t get many people putting their hands up and wanting to follow the pathway in refereeing. So those who do, we applaud them.
“But we need to improve the pool, and I think one of the ways is going into the schools at the youngest level, and showing them that there is a pathway for officiating and not only playing football on the field.”
