Trio departs for Digicel Cup play-off in Antigua

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

The three schoolboy footballers who were chosen to embark on an all-expense paid one-week trip to view action in Group G of the Digicel Caribbean Cup (DCC) in Antigua, left the island yesterday, along with national senior coach, Thedore 'Tappa' Whitmore, and Digicel's Brandon Allwood.

The fortunate youngsters - Kendon Anderson (St. George's College), Dujon Williams (Innswood High) and Romony Hilton (Lacovia High) - were chosen from an initial group of 27, which participated in the two-day Digicel Caribbean Cup coaching clinic, which was conducted at the Barbican playing field between October 12 and 13.

The clinic featured teenagers from various schools across the island, who are currently participating in the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning and daCosta Cup football competitions, which are part-sponsored by Digicel.

While in Antigua the youngsters will attend the Group G round of matches, where they will not only view the games live, but also get an opportunity to meet the players on the various teams. A feature of the trip will be a tour of the island, which should excite the boys, especially given that the two of them have never travelled before.

The youngsters will also visit a coaching clinic being put on by Digicel Antigua, that seeks to improve the skills that they were taught at the Jamaican camp, which had focused on honing and refining the players' skills and effecting a greater appreciation for the sport.

HOPING FOR MORE OF ITS KIND

This was not the first clinic hosted by Digicel in Jamaica, but it was the first of its kind and the telecommunications company's sports sponsorship manager, Paula Pinnock-MacLeod, intends for such ventures to continue.

"This is not the first year we have done a coaching clinic, we have a tradition of doing coaching clinics," Pinnock-MacLeod cited. "This is a new initiative for Digicel Jamaica in particular and, hopefully, we will continue to do developmental clinics such as this.

"They may not be in the same format, but every year we can pretty much say we will have some opportunity for our young footballers to be exposed to a different level of football," she added.

The contingent will return to the island on the 16th.