Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
THE MONTH of August promises to be a very active one for captain Horace Burrell.
The former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, now Caribbean Football Union (CFU) senior vice president and CONCACAF executive member, was last week given big assignments by both the world governing body for football, FIFA, and regional overseers, the CFU.
Between August 3 and 13, he will serve as chairman of the inaugural CFU Under-15 tournament to be held in Trinidad and Tobago, after which he will depart for Samoa and Vanuatu for FIFA duties.
Burrell will be in Samoa from August 16-21 before hopping across to neighbouring Vanuatu for a four-day stint which runs from August 22-26. While in the southeastern Asian countries, Burrell will serve as an instructor at FIFA's Com-Unity Programme workshop.
The aim of this workshop is to improve awareness of the value of football on individual countries. The course is intended to improve cooperation and communication between member associations, government, non-government organisations (NGO's), media and other stakeholders.
It was patterned after a programme Jamaica had during the France '98 campaign when Burrell led the JFF. Since then, FIFA, out of admiration for Jamaica's programme has mandated its courses programmes department to develop a similar curriculum and implement it within member organisations.
Burrell who departs the island for Trinidad and Tobago at noon today has described his month-long duties as "a real challenge".
"It's one that I am looking forward to though as I am one who likes challenges and these visits certainly give me an opportunity to give back to football, a sport that I have learnt so much from," Burrell said.
Of the fact that he will be presenting on a programme that could be considered his brainchild, Burrell said: "It is always a good feeling to see your innovations coming into play and certainly it is a great feeling to see FIFA using it to help other countries," he added.
Burrell's visit will not be limited to the pacific area. Along with the FIFA delegation, he will be using New Zealand as a travel hub. In New Zealand, Burrell will pay a courtesy call on the New Zealand Football Federation before moving on to visit the Australian Football Federation, August 27-31.
The former army officer returns home on September 1.
