MIAMI, Florida – Last week the United Soccer Coaches Convention took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and forming part of the convention’s agenda was Concacaf Director of Development Jason Roberts.

Alongside U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education Didier Chambaron and Canada Soccer Manager of Coach Education Jim Loughlin, Roberts appeared on a panel that spoke to the goals set forth by Concacaf and its Concacaf Coaching Convention for all 41 Member Associations.

“The United Soccer Coaches Convention is one of the largest coaching conventions, if not the largest coaching convention in the world, and we were really honored to be able to use that as a back-drop in front of such a large contingent of coaches and people interested in the game. We talked about the Concacaf Coaching Convention, the collective impact that we believe in, which we know is going to be delivered through this regulatory framework and our relationships with our Member Associations,” said Roberts in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com

The Concacaf Coaching Convention is a regulatory framework on coach education coordinated by the Confederation and developed by Member Associations for Member Associations, intended to standardize and raise the quality of coach education programs across the region. The panel in Philadelphia served as an opportunity to highlight the benefits of this framework to key stakeholders and the general interested public.

“We were able to delve into the impact, potential, strategy and collaboration between ourselves, Concacaf as a Confederation, U.S. Soccer and Canada Soccer. Both Jim and Didier are part of our Coach Education Panel as well, so they have been part of this work over a number of years. I think for all three of us and our organization it was a pleasure to be able to represent the work that has been put into this project,” added Roberts.

Roberts also highlighted the importance of the feedback received, especially clarifying what exactly the Concacaf Coaching Convention is, what makes it distinct, while also showcasing the coach education opportunities available within U.S. Soccer, Canada Soccer and throughout the Concacaf region in the years to come.

“It was a pleasure to talk about the work that is being done in the USA and Canada, but also the strategy we’ve put into place to make sure all 41 Member Associations will hopefully be part of the Coaching Convention by 2030. One part was to talk about the national opportunities for U.S. Soccer and Canada Soccer, but also from a wider, macro perspective, have both Jim and Didier contribute on what they believe will be the legacy impact of this program,” said Roberts.

The experience of the past week in Philadelphia at the United Soccer Coaches Convention and the panel on the Concacaf Coaching Convention also helped bring more into focus the strategy with which Roberts will approach the Concacaf Coaching Convention.

“We’re clear that our strategy is one that has a wider collective impact because of the diversity of our confederation. Forty-one different members, four different languages, different realities on the ground from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and how our strategy is going to allow for sustainable growth in coaching education. One of the main points that we want to push forward is that great players come from great coaches, and that is at the core of what we are creating through the coaching convention,” said Roberts.

One of the best ways that Roberts foresees broadcasting the benefits of the Concacaf Coaching Convention is reaching out to coaches far and wide across the region, while leveraging the help of the major stakeholders and Member Associations.

“In quarter one of this year, we will be opening the coaching convention up for applications, which is a very important stage of this. But I think what is also important is bringing a collective understanding and talking about this publicly, allowing the coaches on the ground, our future coaching leaders and educators to get excited about the opportunities and what a coaching convention can be to them as individuals, as well as highlighting that in regard to our Member Associations.

“We need to get out and speak to our major stakeholders and coaches on the ground, and how can we engage our Member Associations to do more of these things. From a national standpoint, we’re talking about what a coaching convention actually is and also presenting to them the strategy that we’ve put in place to make sure that we’re effective and making the environment better for all 41 of our Member Associations,” concluded Roberts.