- September, 23 2011 -
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- Digicel Panama announced the start of the 2011 Digicel Kick Start Clinics, which will include the participation of former Liverpool player John Barnes.
- After 6 preliminary nationwide, 29 children of Panama, Chiriquí, Veraguas and Colón were selected to participate.
- This year there will be four chosen to travel to the Digicel Football Academy in Trinidad and Tobago, to train with the Sunderland AFC Academy of Light coaches.
PANAMA, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2011 – Digicel Panama, sponsor and number 1 fan of the national soccer, announced the launch of the Digicel Clinics for third consecutive year, again with the famous former professional player and Liverpool English soccer legend, John Barnes, starting this Friday 23rd, continuing on Saturday 24th and finishing on Sunday September 25th.
After six successful preliminary rounds, where more than 300 applicants attended, twenty-nine (29) gifted children were selected to share the field with the soccer star and show their talent. Barnes will train them on techniques, strategy and teamwork to make the best of them and select the four finalists who will travel with all expenses paid to the Digicel Football Academy in Trinidad and Tobago, where they will join the rest of the selected from the Caribbean. This select group of young people will receive training for one (1) week from the coaches of the Sunderland AFC Academy of Light, having with it the opportunity to be evaluated as prospects to be part of this great team of England Premier League.
Mara Samaniego, Director of Marketing for Digicel Panama expressed satisfaction that Panama is again part of this important initiative, "Our national commitment to soccer goes beyond the support we give to the LPF (Panamanian Soccer League). The clinics are an example of this. It's our third year organizing this beautiful activity, seeking the talent of our young people nationally and we have seen the participation has been growing tremendously. Additionally, this year we doubled the number of places and take 4 young players to Trinidad & Tobago, which gives us more opportunity for the Panamanian talent to cross borders and leave its mark. We wish all of them best of luck. "
Also, the Digicel Kick Start Clinics coach, John Barnes, said: "I am excited to be back another year as head coach of the Digicel Clinics now on the way to Digicel Football Academy. Digicel Clinics are a fantastic initiative which in recent years has seen the appearance of great talents. In the long term, these initiatives will achieve the development and evolution of local players good enough to play professionally.” "Furthermore, I'm extremely excited about the introduction this year of the Digicel Football Academy, which will host youngsters with the greatest talent of all Caribbean and Panama, where they will receive expert training in the sport they love," Barnes added.
The clinics will begin on Friday 23rd at 3:00 pm on Super Gol field in Condado del Rey, and will end on Sunday 25th with a mathc between the selected kids in ‘Cascarita’ Tapia field at 10:00 am (see schedule of clinics included in the press kit). It’s important to note that a lot of the selected players are already part of the minor league teams of the Panamanian Soccer League.
The 29 selected kids are: Jorge Herazo; Edgar Alonso Aparicio; Luis Cañate; Yair Hurtado; Carlos Arturo Saavedra; Omar Anderson; Alcides Murillo; William Mojica; Justin Simons; Jair Cárdenas; Jose Luis Lasso; Iban Darío Murillo; Isais Reynaldo Paternina; Jeshua Sanchez; Josué Jordán; Roberto Cruz; Roberto Almanza; Alexander Perez; Jonathan Moreno; Yacxel Cáceres; Anthony Ameth Beitia; Máximo Arauz; Jair Vatiz; Marvin Santizo Ceballos; Ricardo Cooper; Jose Cubilla; Ronnie Villarreal; Antonelli Stevenson; y Facundo Kroeck. (See list in detail in the press kit).
In addition to the clinics, Barnes will be sharing his experiences and knowledge with teams U-11 and U-13 of the BAGOSO FC club, an initiative of the Panamanian soccer player Felipe Baloy and seeks to promote sports for children and youngsters who are in social risk situations. The kids part of this club come from different areas of the province of Panama, mainly Santa Ana, Panama Viejo, San Miguelito, Marañón, San Joaquin, Chorrillo and the province of Colon. This is a contribution of Digicel Panama to continue supporting soccer, regardless age or social status. This activity will take place on IRHE – INTEL field on Via Ricardo. J. Alfaro.
For those who didn’t participated or qualified for the clinics, Digicel also announced for the first time regionally, an online contest that will allow one lucky winner a spot to train with the coaches in Digicel Football Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
To participate kids must be born between 1995 and 1997, and upload a video to the www.digicelfootball.com webpage from September 18th to October 17th, 2011, playing or showing their skills with the ball. The 5 most voted videos among the eight countries participating in the contest, will be judged by John Barnes himself who will define who will be the person who will join the selected kids from the clinics at Digicel Football Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
Digicel Panama will continue doing this kind of activities to contribute to enhance the sporting culture in Panama and healthy fun.
ABOUT DIGICEL
After ten years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has over 11 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 Championships and the Copa de Naciones Digicel. 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.digicelpacific.com or www.digicelgroup.com for more information.
AGENDA DE ACTIVIDADES
CLÍNICAS PREMIER DIGICEL 2011
| DÍA | HORA | LUGAR | EVENTO |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 9:30 a.m. | Hotel Sheraton Panama (al lado de Atlapa) | Conferencia de Prensa de John Barnes |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 3:00 p.m. | Súper Gol Vía R. J. Alfaro. Condado del Rey, a un costado de Explora. |
Primer día de Clínicas |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 10:00 a.m. | Súper Gol Vía R. J. Alfaro. Condado del Rey, a un costado de Explora. |
Segundo día de Clínicas |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 3:30 p.m. | Cancha IRHE - INTEL Vía R. J. Alfaro. Frente al Sindicato de Industriales, al lado del antiguo Triángulo. |
Actividad de RSE con club BAGOSO FC (de Felipe Baloy) |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 11:00 a.m. | Cancha ‘Cascarita’ Tapia | Último día de Clínicas |
| Viernes, 23 de septiembre | 1:30 p.m. | Cancha ‘Cascarita’ Tapia | Entrega de certificados. Elección de los 4 chicos que viajarán a la Academia de Fútbol Digicel. |
LISTADO DE CHICOS SELECCIONADOS
CLÍNICAS PREMIER DIGICEL 2011
| NO. | NOMBRE | CLUB |
| 1 | Alcides Murillo | Alianza FC |
| 2 | Alexander Perez | Atlético Veragüense |
| 3 | Anthony Ameth Beitia | Real San Jose |
| 4 | Antonelli Stevenson | Del Val |
| 5 | Carlos Arturo Saavedra | Don Bosco FC |
| 6 | Edgar Alonso Aparicio | Don Bosco FC |
| 7 | Facundo Kroeck | Alianza FC |
| 8 | Isais Reynaldo Paternina | Deportivo Árabe Unido |
| 9 | Iván Darío Murillo | Chorrillo FC |
| 10 | Jair Cárdenas | Alianza FC |
| 11 | Jair Vatiz | Deportivo Árabe Unido |
| 12 | Jeshua Sanchez | San Francisco FC |
| 13 | Jonathan Moreno | Alianza FC |
| 14 | Jorge Herazo | Unión Nacional |
| 15 | Jose Cubilla | Real San Jose |
| 16 | Jose Luis Lasso | Chorrillo FC |
| 17 | Josue Jordan | San Francisco FC |
| 18 | Justin Simmons | San Francisco FC |
| 19 | Luis Cañate | Deportivo Árabe Unido |
| 20 | Marvin Santizo Ceballos | Deportivo Árabe Unido |
| 21 | Máximo Arauz | Acuario FC |
| 22 | Omar Anderson | Kiwanis |
| 23 | Ricardo Cooper | Deportivo Árabe Unido |
| 24 | Roberto Almanza | Atlético Veragüense |
| 25 | Roberto Cruz | San Francisco FC |
| 26 | Ronnie Villarreal | Atlético Veragüense |
| 27 | William Mojica | Vista Hermosa FC |
| 28 | Yacxel Cáceres | San Francisco FC |
| 29 | Yair Hurtado | Sporting SM |
