By Emmerson Campbell
“Inspiring young minds through soccer and academics” is the theme of this year’s fifth annual Fruta Conquerors Football Club summer camp which was launched at their clubhouse in Tucville on Thursday.
During the three-week camp which will be held on
weekdays from 13:00hrs, more than 35 young footballers are expected to benefit from both academic classes and football training sessions.
According to the brainchild of the summer camp, and coach of the club, Sampson Gilbert, the main goal of the camp which was first started in 2007 is not just football related since it seeks to occupy the young footballers academically during the August holidays.
“I recognized the need to have our young players occupied during the August holidays and since 2007 we have been working with the youngsters in the community as well as youths from various regions of the country, not just from Georgetown but as long as they could make it to the ground within the specified time we welcome all and sundry to the camp,” said Gilbert.
Football training will be done on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays while classroom work such as reading and writing will be done on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The club’s coach also said that managing stress, conflict resolution and general life skills will be taught to the participants to develop them into well rounded individuals in adulthood.
Gilbert also stated that he is looking forward to other clubs adapting the yearly initiative to occupy young footballers across the country.
Said Gilbert: “I am looking forward to having it as a pilot project and to spread it to the other clubs, to not only focus on Tucville and Fruta Conquerors, but football in general … to help arrest various aspects of delinquency, truancy and other areas that are affecting children in Guyana.”
Meanwhile, Ministry of Education National Literacy Coordinator, Murray Greenidge, praised the project and echoed the sentiments of Gilbert with regards to making the initiative a pilot project.
“We want to make this programme a pilot project so that other organizations can become involved. We are willing to lend support to any agency as it relates to literacy.”
Greenidge said further that over the next three weeks the camp will seek to enhance the reading and writing skills of the young players.
“We believe that an athlete should be well rounded,
meaning they should show skill on and off the field of play.” President of Fruta Conquerors, Wayne Forde, has expressed gratitude to the club’s main sponsor, The Guyana Beverage Inc., and he also praised Gilbert’s work over the years.
He stressed that as young footballers improve their skills on the field it is equally important for them to improve their skills academically. Forde also said that he hopes the participants would return to their classrooms with an added enthusiasm about learning in order to improve their grades and develop an appetite for academics even if they turn out to be outstanding professional footballers. At the end of the camp, three academic trophies will be awarded to the most rounded, most improved and most disciplined student of the summer camp.
Also in attendance at the launching was secretary of the club, Daniel Thomas and its coordinators Loucretia Simmons and Lynda Gomes.
