John Barnes, Liverpool and England football legend and head coach of the Digicel Kick Start Football Clinics said the local players participating in the three-day programme which opened yesterday were very enthusiastic.
The current inclement weather is taking its toll and yesterday’s session was switched to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall after it was set to take place at the National Park rugby field.
“It is good the see the enthusiasm of the players, it [is] good to see their eyes widen when you tell them of your experiences and give them advice, they look up to you especially when you tell them you are a footballer from the Caribbean. It’s really looking at the boys and how enthusiastic they are and how much they want to learn that gives me satisfaction, Barnes, who was born in Jamaica, said at the end of the first session.
The former midfield player, who made 79 appearances for England between 1983-1995, said he would rather have been conducting the session outdoor because rain should not affect football.
“I don’t know why we can’t play out in this weather because this is good football weather, we should be outside – if not, we will work indoors,” he added.
He said the current situation was not ideal because the players would be unable to be involved in match situations but added the training would be tailor-made to suit the venue.
Twenty Under-20 and five Under-17 players drawn from Georgetown, Linden, Berbice and East Coast Demerara, were invited to take part in the clinic, the first leg of an eight-nation Digicel-sponsored Caribbean development programme.
Barnes is being assisted by five local coaches: Joseph Wilson, Lyndon France, Sampson Gilbert, Gavin Brown and Bilaal Nantambu during his stint in Guyana.
The clinic was originally scheduled for the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary, but the organizers received a fax that indicated that the ground was unavailable for use for the programme, forcing the organizers to switch to the National Park but early morning showers yesterday brought about another change in venue to the sports hall.
In each of the eight countries, the three-day Kick Start Clinics will involve Barnes working with national Under-20 teams for two days and on the third day the training squad will compete against a local club team to be chosen by Digicel subscribers.
It is unclear whether the feature match between the training squad and Fruta Conquerors Junior squad will be played. The Conquerors side was chosen to play by local Digicel subscribers.
To wrap up the clinic, the entire group will participate in a life coaching seminar led by Barnes, which will offer the footballers some valuable tips in their development as a person as well as their future careers in football.
The other countries to benefit from the six-week programme which ends on February 16 are Haiti, Barbados, St. Kitts/Nevis, Antigua/Barbuda, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
The clinic’s next stop is in Haiti from January 11-14, then on to Barbados from January 16-19, St. Kitts/Nevis from January 21-24, Antigua/Barbuda January 26-29, Suriname January 31- February 3, Trinidad and Tobago February 8-11 and Jamaica from February 13-16.
At the end of the Clinics next month, Barnes and the national coaches who participated will name six players to travel to the United Kingdom to take part in a one-week training programme at English Premier League side Sunderland AFC’s Academy of Light.
