FORMER National Under- 23 football coach Kenny Thomas has returned to the fold of FC Santa Rosa after an absence of several years.
Thomas has made his name as a top youth coach at the secondary schools and national levels. During the early 1990s he was head coach of St Augustine Senior Comprehensive School, known as the mean “Green Machine” during the rein of outstanding national midfielder and striker Jerren Nixon in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL).
Thomas later joined Santa Rosa’s technical staff in 1997 and led their Under-16s and 17s teams on successful tours of the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname between 1998 and 2000. A native Tobagonian, Thomas has been living in the sister isle in recent years. He picked up a job as an assistant coach with Tobago giants Tobago United of the TT Pro League- one of his few stints in senior football.
His return to FC Santa Rosa or “The Cannons” as they are now popularly called is as assistant coach.
Meanwhile the Arima club continued to sharpen their tools with sight of a TT Pro League spot, as two of their coaches recently completed a FIFA Coaching Course.
The coaches are Timothy Rochford, the head coach of the Under-16 Division and Anderson Veronique- the assistant coach of the senior team. They successfully competed a FIFA Grassroots Football coaching course at the CONCACAF Centre of Excellence in Macoya, Tunapuna
The course was held from April 19 -22 and conducted by former national coach now turn instructor at the world governing body for football (FIFA) Alvin Corneal. The programme focused on the characteristics and coaching of young players; the organization and use of small-sided games in training; and practical coaching.