HVFC’s Fabian ‘Dino’ Grant and Jeremy Verley were two of three players selected as Digicel ambassadors after their football clinic was concluded yesterday. 15 year old Fabian plays centre-half for the under 17 team and attends Camperdown High School, while Jeremy is a newly assigned midfielder for the under 14 team. Congrats to our youngsters!
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Sherdon Cowan | Jamaica Observer
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Digicel in tandem with Chelsea FC will for the first time in its seven-year history involve female footballers in its kick-start clinic programme, which was launched at the company’s headquarters in downtown Kingston yesterday.
The company was for the second time hosting the regional launch and is also introducing a coaching session for female footballers in a bid to encourage the ongoing development of the sport among young people of both genders.
The kick-start clinic is aimed at scouting the best young footballing talent the Caribbean and Central America have to offer, and will see thousands of young aspiring footballers from 13 countries across the region and Central America trying out for a chance to travel to the Digicel Academy in Barbados where they will work with top coaches from Chelsea FC.
They will select 30 of the most talented children from each country, before selecting a top three who will represent their respective country at the Academy in Barbados.
Digicel’s Senior Sponsorship Manager Tahnida Nunes noted that her company has a very clear vision for sports.
“Be very focused, be very targeted, start from the bottom which is the grassroots and build your way up to the national level and this is a testament because we do that in every pillar of sports.
“Our main focus is football…the people’s sport, cricket and then there is athletics which is inevitable…this is where we breed the best athletes in the world,” she said while addressing the launch.
She went on to add that Digicel’s tagline is not just a tagline, but a commitment to those who are in its range.
“Our brand promise (Be Extraordinary) is really not a tagline, but a commitment from Digicel to you and the commitment is that we (Digicel) are going to give you a platform for you to be extraordinary,” said Nunes.
She added: “We are going to do that in every possible way we can…in music, sports, entertainment and culture and today (yesterday) we are continuing a platform in sports. So if you take this platform that we present to you literally…be diligent, be disciplined then you will be able to take it to the next level.”
In closing, Nunes thanked the coaches from the Barclay’s Premier League club for their continued support as they continue to dedicate the level of structure and professionalism that is needed for the kick-start programme.
Senior International Football Development Officer of Chelsea FC Foundation David Monk, explained that the programme continues to provide a solid foundation for players who want to launch a career in football.
“We know that the standards are going to be extremely high, we know that you have had players represented at the highest level in the premier league and we also know that Jamaica has been to the World Cup. So we know that the expectation is high here in Jamaica hence the reason we decided to launch here and it is also a reflection of Cadine Graham winning the MVP last year,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Minister with responsibility for sports Natalie Neita-Headley and Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), gave their support.
The first of the three-day clinic was held yesterday and will continue today with the coaches education workshop, before concluding tomorrow with the National Under-16 girls team having a training session with the Chelsea Foundation Coaches.