Up Close … with Jim Louis, new youth football team coach |13 May 2014

‘Be confident in your ability and believe in yourself’

By Sedrick Nicette

The experience of practicing the sport you love abroad is always something a lot of people dream about and to even earn a coaching job after the end of your playing career is also something very enticing.

This week I managed to catch up with Jim Louis, a former national football team player who has only recently been appointed by the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) to work with the local youth teams and academies.

Jim has spent time playing in Reunion and even coaching there before recently returning to Seychelles.
He spent his childhood in the district of Beau Vallon and went to school at Glacis.

“I spent most of my childhood by the beach and in football,” he said.

After finishing his studies at the now defunct National Youth Service (NYS), he went on to the Polytechnic before starting work as a Physical Education (PE) teacher at Bel Ombre school. “I only spent about three months there before I moved to Reunion,” Jim said.

“I always enjoyed football as a child and behind the Beau Vallon Police Station, there was a clearing among a banana plantation where we used to play among friends,” he explained.
“I continued to play at school and after completing my studies at NYS, my uncle told me to join a team. Being a resident of Beau Vallon, I opted to join that district’s team and that is how it all started for me.”

After Jim moved to Reunion, it was football that occupied his time. There, he played for second division side Ravine-Creuse and also played for three other sides before going. After hanging up his boots, he went on to coach Ravine-Creuse – the team who brought him to Reunion Island.

He spent around six years coaching the side, before going on to work with the under 20s.
“It was a good choice for me to work with the youngsters as I wanted more time to spend with my child,” Jim said.

“The first and second division side trained almost every day and played on weekends and therefore would have left me with not enough time with my family,” he added.

Having now returned to Seychelles, Jim has been given the opportunity to continue working with the young players as he now works within the youth academies, the under-16 and under-17 national teams here.

“Having worked in football all my life, it is all I know and I am very grateful to the football federation for affording me the opportunity to work with these children,” he said.

Jim’s experience abroad will surely help the younger generation and he explained that despite working in Reunion, there is no big difference in football between the two countries.

“I think football is the same everywhere, there is a lot of quality, but the biggest problem is mentality and that is what needs to change in order to move forward,” said Jim.

Speaking about the many negative influences that are restraining youth development in the country, Jim believes that if one is not serious, despite having the talent, it will be very difficult to achieve success.

“Negative environments will always have an effect on development. One important thing though are the parents, as they are the persons who have the biggest influence on their child and if they don’t do a good job then the child will be the one to bear the consequences,” added Jim.

He also spoke to me about the changes Seychelles football has gone through since his departure up till now.

“I do not think much has changed, except for the fact that nowadays there are a lot of foreigners playing in the leagues. For me I believe it is a good thing as foreigners help local players to up their levels to match those of the foreign players whom our teams hire. However, the downside is that if we recruit foreigners who are no better than our current local players, then it is just a waste as it does not help development in the end,” he explained.

Recently, the SFF has installed coach Ulric Mathiot as the national team’s caretaker coach and I decided to seek Jim’s opinion on the matter.
“To me, within the federation itself, Mr Mathiot is the perfect and most qualified person for the job at the moment.”

After having spent almost all his life as a footballer, there has definitely been lots of ups and downs in Jim’s career. I decided to ask him about his most memorable experience and this is what he shared.

“I remember reaching a cup semifinal in Reunion and we were playing against St Pierre.  African football legend Roger Milla was at that time playing for St Pierre and as a big admirer of him, I just wanted to be a spectator against him even though I knew I was playing against him. He was an amazing player, and lining up against him was an incredible occasion.”

Speaking about the Airtel Rising Stars programme which has been making headlines recently, Jim believes that it has provided the youth with a way to progress to higher levels and he hopes that with more effort soon we can have footballers who can make Seychelles proud by turning professional and playing for top sides.

With the SFF recently stepping up its efforts to have more qualified coaches in the leagues, Jim believes it is a good thing as it helps young coaches to reach higher levels faster and therefore should they make mistakes in their coaching careers, they will have more time to work on these and correct them.

Working with the youth and having so much experience after being involved in football for a long time, Jim’s advice to the youth is to have a lot of perseverance.
“One important thing though is to be confident in your ability. No one will be able to help you reach your potential if you don’t believe in yourself,” he added.