When the opportunity to sit a Confederation of African Football A Licence course in his native Morocco arose, X-Roads coach Farid El Karfa grasped it with both hands.

El Karka, who also played as a winger for Boulevard, is keen to progress his coaching career and he hopes to share his new learnings with players in Bermuda.

“What inspired me to do the course is extra coaching education and more coaching possibilities,” Karfa told The Royal Gazette.

“I am a big believer that learning never stops and I’m waiting on the next coaching experience.”

The theoretical and practical course, which ran from January to October, was conducted by the Moroccan Royal Federation at the world-class complex Mohammed Sixt, which is located just outside of the Morocco capital of Rabat.

“I am happy to be able to earn another A licence with the Moroccan Federation, one of the leading federations in coach education in Africa,” El Karfa said.

“The CAF A is the highest required licence to coach at any Premier Division club in the African continent.

“The assessment process to gain the licence tested the coaches tactical knowledge of the game and their ability to run top-level sessions that offer in-depth tactical teachings for players.

“My previous experience with the Uefa A licence I did in 2019 helped a lot to make the CAF A experience less challenging and more enjoyable. The experience was very satisfying and allowed me to gain more ideas and insight into the game of football.

“I am happy to have been able to add to my knowledge and experience and keep growing into the game to be able to deliver the best coaching for my present team X-Roads Warriors FC and any other football teams that I coach in the future.”

Karfa is in his second season coaching X-Roads, whom he guided back to the Premier Division at the first attempt during the previous campaign.

He also led the Smith’s-based club to the First Division title during the 2016-2017 season before being replaced by former North Village and Bermuda striker Ralph Bean Jr, who parted ways with the club following their relegation from the top flight at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Reflecting on the season so far, Karfa said: “I think the team is doing reasonably well for a team that just came up from the First Division.

“We started strong but then our results dropped due to main injuries, but we will be looking to come back strong again in the second half of the season to represent ourselves the best we can.”