jamarchThe Digicel-organised football coaching clinics in Trinidad were a great success, according to the Sunderland AFC coaches who travelled to Trinidad to host them.
Both Sunderland AFC Academy of Light Manager, Ged McNamee and Academy Coach, Carlton Fairweather, had words of praise for the football talent shown by the 35 boys who attended the three day clinics – and for their attitude to the game and their willingness to learn and practice. Likewise, the performance of the 11 coaches who attended the opening day of the clinics for a “Coach the Coach” session was complimented by the visitors from Sunderland AFC.
Commenting on the coaching clinics, Ged McNamee said; “With their good technical skills and their first class attitude, these boys are the future of football in Trinidad. There is natural talent here waiting to be developed. I hope that that talent – coupled with the feedback from the coaches being that this was something new, different and very worthwhile – would result in there being more and more of these kinds of youth development initiatives in the pipeline. We look forward to working even closer with Digicel in the future to ensure that happens.”
His colleague, Carlton Fairweather, agreed saying; “I think the boys learned a lot during the course of the clinics. Our aim was to teach them that the art to being a good footballer is in the detail; the better the detail, the better the footballer. So my advice to these boys is to work as hard as you can – for as long as you can. With desire, commitment, hard work, self-motivation and self-belief all the essential components of being a good footballer, the lesson to take away from the clinics is ‘practice, practice, practice’.”
At the close of the three-day coaching clinics, two boys in particular were singled out for their performance. Neil Benjamin took home the coveted Most Valuable Player award while Matthew Woo Ling was named Most Promising Player. Both boys were rewarded with footballs to mark their respective achievements.
Kieran Foley, Director of Marketing for Digicel Group, summed up; “We’re delighted to have been able to bring these fantastic coaches from Sunderland AFC to Trinidad to witness first-hand the abundance of talent and passion for the game that we have here. The feedback from both the coaches and the boys has been overwhelmingly positive and we are looking forward to running more of these types of programmes in the future. I would like to say thank you to both Sunderland AFC and all the attendees at the coaching clinics for their commitment and for a job well done.”
Digicel is always finding new ways to bring football to everyone at all levels. As well as pioneering the hugely successful Digicel Kick Start Clinics across the Caribbean and Central America, Digicel also sponsors Trinidad & Tobago’s Pro League, 15 national football leagues and federations across the Caribbean and Central America, the Digicel Caribbean Championships and the Copa de Naciones Digicel in Central America.
Media Writer
