Former Copenhagen High School Football Coach, Katherine Stackel, visits TCIFA Girls and Women’s Programme
As part of its continuing Guest Coaches Program, the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) invited Katherine Stackel from New York, USA to conduct clinics with the TCIFA Women’s Program. Coach Stackel conducted sessions with the Girls U11, U13, U15 and Women’s National Team Programmes.
Coach Stackel is a very experienced coach having coached football in the Frontier League of Copenhagen High School in New York for over 29 years. She led the Golden Knights to the State’s Class D championship in 2015, the programme’s third title and first since 1993. Stackel began her career at her alma mater, Copenhagen, as an assistant coach in 1988 for a period of six years, then, took over the varsity team for a 12-year stretch before moving onto a six-year assignment as head coach of the Carthage Boys football team. She returned as Copenhagen’s girls football coach for the 2012 season and continued to lead the programme up until her retirement in 2017. Stackel was awarded one of twenty-two National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations Coaches Association in 2017 for the period 2015-2016.
The TCIFA National Academy in Providenciales opened its doors to Stackel, who conducted technical and tactical sessions on April 23-25. The clinics focused on topics such as passing, shooting, possession and attacking.
President Sonia Fulford in commenting on the Guest Coach Program and the involvement of Coach Stackel had this to say: “Football clinics range in scope and can differ based on the coach’s basic football strategy methods and training regime. We embrace this particular form of diversity in football, as clinics of this nature provide our young female players the opportunity to build on their essential football skills all whilst learning an array of emerging football tactics. Involving Guest Coaches in our quest to continue the development of our programmes, furthermore, helps to motivate and inspire our young players to stay involved in the sport”.
For her part, Coach Stackel was elated at the opportunity to work with the female players at the TCIFA. "What an honor for me to be welcomed as a guest coach by the TCIFA Women's program. The players were very receptive and enthusiastic throughout the week. My sincerest thanks to the TCIFA staff for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to share some of my training ideas. Good luck to all of the players and coaches. I hope to visit again soon,"
