- October, 12 2011 -
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- One week of training under the leadership of top Barclays Premier League Coaches
Wednesday, October 12th 2011 – Paramaribo, Suriname: Digicel Kick Start Clinics Head Coach and England and Liverpool football Legend, John Barnes, has chosen the four aspiring young footballers from Suriname who will go through to the Digicel Academy in Trinidad from Tuesday 1st to Monday 7th November.
The four footballers from Suriname – Jofendri Gainsa, Moreno Asoman, Jamal Pocorni and Sorencio Juliaans – were chosen from a competitive group of 50 who all showcased their talent during the three-day Clinic held at the Franklin Essed Stadium.
The boys will now join the ‘crème de la crème’ of young footballing talent at the Digicel Academy – a week-long elite training camp under the leadership of top Barclays Premier League coaches, Kevin Ball and Carlton Fairweather, from the Sunderland Academy, assisted by John Barnes.
In addition, Shaferio Bergtop, was the winner of the Digicel ‘Hot Shot’ competition and is now in with a chance to be chosen as the wild card for the final place in the Digicel Academy.
Suriname has a legacy of producing talented footballers. During the Digicel Kick Start Clinics of 2008 and 2009, three aspiring young Surinamese footballers were chosen to travel to the United Kingdon to the acclaimed Sunderland Academy where they spent one week training with some of Europe’s top coaches.
Sunderland Academy Assistant manager, Kevin Ball, said; “The youngsters have worked hard to get to this point and we are going to give them as much advice and assistance as we can to help fulfill their ambitions to play football at the highest level. It’s not easy to make it;not only do you have to have talent, but you need dedication and a single-mindedness to succeed – and we’ll be looking for all those attributes in the players.”
Digicel Kick Start Clinics Head Coach, John Barnes, said; “As usual, I was very impressed with the quality of boys in Suriname – and as expected it was a difficult decision to choose only four boys. There was at least six or seven boys who deserved to go to Trinidad, and I have no doubt that the ones chosen will represent Suriname with distinction.”
Winner of a place in the Digicel Academy, Moreno Asoman, said; “I am very happy that I was chosen as this was my very first clinic and I am determined to do my very best in Trinidad.”
The Digicel Academy will also host a ‘coach the coaches’ seminar in which coaches from across the region will get expert training from Sunderland AFC’s finest teachers
The Digicel Kick Start Clinics programme officially kicked off on Sunday 18th September in Haiti before travelling on to Panama, New York, St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, Suriname, Jamaica and culminating in a week long training session at the Digicel Academy in Trinidad from Tuesday November 1st to Monday November 7th
For more information, visit www.digicelfootball.com.
ENDS
THE ROAD TO THE ACADEMY TIMELIN
Country John Barnes Clinic Dates
Haiti Sunday 18th – Thursday 22nd September
Panama Friday 23rd – Monday 26th September
New York Tuesday 27th – Friday 30th September
St. Kitts & Nevis Saturday 1st – Tuesday 4th October
Grenada Wednesday 5th – Saturday 8th October
Suriname Sunday 9th – Wednesday 12th October
Jamaica Thursday 13th – Sunday 16th October
Trinidad The Digicel Academy – Tuesday 1st – Monday 7th November
ABOUT SUNDERLAND AFC
Formed in 1879, Sunderland AFC joined the English Football League in 1890.
Based in the football hotbed of the North East of England, the club has a rich and proud history stretching across many decades, most memorably lifting the top accolade in English Football, the FA Cup, in 1937 and 1973.
Also known as the Black Cats, Sunderland play their home matches at the 49,000 capacity Stadium of Light, moving from their former home of Roker Park in 1997.
In 2010-11 the club finished in the top ten of the Barclays Premier League and subsequently made 11 additions to its playing squad in the summer of 2011 - including Wes Brown and John O’Shea from Manchester United, Swedish international Sebastian Larsson, South Korean striker Ji Dong Won and England U21 rising star Connor Wickham.
SUNDERLAND AFC & DIGICEL
Sunderland AFC has partnered with Digicel in the hugely successful Kick Start Clinics since 2008, welcoming youngsters from the project to its training headquarters as well as sending senior coaching staff to the Caribbean to lead clinics.
Steve Bruce said: “Sunderland is proud to be associated with such a successful project and we are delighted that we can continue to share our club’s expertise and help to give youngsters across the Caribbean and Central America the opportunity to achieve their football dreams.”
ABOUT DIGICEL GROUP
After ten years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has 11.5 million customers across its 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.
Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.
In 2004, Digicel developed Digicel Rising Stars – an annual talent show to support aspiring young music artists in the Caribbean. The show has spanned the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago ranking as one of the top-rated shows.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and its markets comprise: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. Digicel also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean.
Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.
