Chess to be merged with football at Kick It camp

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

There are several football camps that are staged across the island each year, which have forced organisers to become more innovative in order to attract participants.

One of the most recent camps to have been started is the Kick It Christmas Camp, at the National Water Commission executive field and will staged for the second year running from tomorrow through to Saturday.

The camp, which targets children ages 5-16, will also feature chess games as a means of stimulating the brains of the youngsters.

"We are going to couple the camp with chess because of the similarity of the two games," camp director Wolde Harris stated.

"Just as we are training the muscles of the body, the brain is also a muscle and if we can train the brain to not only think progressively, but to anticipate and to make decisions based on the possible outcomes, we will see soccer players making better decisions on the field," he added.

The campers will be exposed to a high level of coaching from former national representatives Harris and Fabian Davis. Khari Stephenson is yet to be confirmed, while former national representative, Carol June-Simpson, is also on the coaching roster, as well as local youth coaches Simba and Changa Harris, who are both Colts and Pepsi coaches at Kingston College; and Milo Bryan from Hydel Prep.

New footwork system

The coaching staff will seek to expose the youngsters to a new footwork system, which seeks to create more two-footed football players.

"We are covering all the requisite skills. These are passing and receiving, dribbling, possession, individual and team defending and the biggest part, finishing," Harris expressed.

"We have also incorporated a camp world cup. This will see the kids being placed in teams on three or four afternoons, where they will play in Kick It World Cup Games," he added.

The winning teams from those games will receive prizes and there will also be a camp MVP for all age groups. The campers will also receive certificates of participation and there will be a best goalkeeper award.

Another feature of the camp will be a motivational speech by Reggae Boyz captain, Shavar Thomas.