Steffi Jones supervised a lively training session on Thursday at the St. Louis Convention Center in Missouri, her first duty as a clinician at the 62nd National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Annual Convention. The event, one of the largest coaching get-togethers in the world with more than 6,000 delegates, takes place from 14 to 18 January. Jones, in charge of preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ in Germany as President of the Organising Committee, arrived in the USA on Wednesday.

"It’s a great honour to take charge of a training session at this significant coaching convention. As OC President and a former international, my goal is to contribute to the further development of women’s football in sporting terms," commented Jones after a 75-minute workout in the Convention Center’s Hall 5. The session focused on defensive posture and tactics in one-on-one, two-on-two and four-on-four situations. Jones holds the highest-level coaching qualification (Fussballlehrer) awarded by the German Football Association (DFB).

"We specifically chose to invite Steffi Jones to the convention because she’s an internationally-recognised personality in women’s football. Her commitment will help us recruit plenty of girls for the women’s game, and expand our base of 15,000 women’s coaches," commented NSCAA Director of Coaching Development Jeff Tipping.

Other featured clinicians at the 2009 NSCAA Convention include Brazil women's national team coach Jorge Barcellos, Chelsea FC Performance Director Michael Forde, and USA women's national team coach Pia Sundhage.

While in St. Louis, the OC President also met with Mary Harvey, Chief Operating Officer of the new Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, and Jones’ former FFC Frankfurt team-mate. The German 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup winner talked with the former world-class goalkeeper about the new league’s goals and strategies. The inaugural WPS season kicks off on 29 March when Los Angeles Sol meet Washington Freedom.

Jones’ visit to the convention concludes with a lecture/classroom session entitled "The FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 as a Tool for the Sustainable Development of Women's Football".