Digicel schoolboy clinic kicks off

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Write

The Digicel Caribbean Cup Coaching Clinic kicked off yesterday with 30 youngsters from the Digicel-sponsored Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy football competitions getting an opportunity to be tutored by national senior football team coach, Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore.

Whitmore will be head coach of the two-day clinic being held at the Barbican playing field, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The focus of the clinic, which concludes today, is to sharpen the players' football skills, increase their understanding and appreciation of the sport and entrench core values such as discipline and respect.

Digicel's sports sponsorship manager, Paula Pinnock MacLeod, explained the motivation behind the clinic.

Developmental tool

"The coaching clinic has always been a developmental tool, it is a way for us to engage our younger footballers and expose them to a higher level of football," Pinnock cited.

"With the Digicel Caribbean Championship being on the way, we thought it was a good idea and an opportunity for us to partner with ISSA, as well as the head coach of the national team, to give these 30 boys an opportunity to not only interact with the national coach, but to experience the sport in a different light," she explained.

The 30 players who were selected by ISSA - 15 from the rural area daCosta Cup competition and 15 players from the urban area Manning Cup competition - are being housed at the Reggae Boyz headquarters.

Three players from the clinic will be selected by Whitmore and his assistants, Lenworth Hyde Sr and Desmond Smith, to travel to Antigua on November 9th to view the Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament for one week.

Pinnock said: "In addition to what we consider to be a very privileged position to be one of these 30 boys, those three players will go on an all-expense paid trip from November 9th to November 16th to Antigua, to watch one of the qualifying rounds of the Digicel Caribbean Championships."

Whitmore and his team will have their job cut out in selecting the three players, as he was very impressed with the teenagers on the opening day.

"We are blessed with an abundance of talent, but as we have indicated it is not just talent alone, it is the whole attitude and discipline," Whitmore pointed out. "They have shown a lot on the first day, very impressive," he remarked.