Senior Player-of-the-Year Niall Reid-Stephen as he received his award from Flow Corporate Communications Manager, Alan Harris (left) and Chefette Advertising Manager, Lisa Carter, during Saturday’s awards ceremony.
The Irish-born Killian Campion was among the top achievers on the day.
Pro Shottas rewards its rising stars
Tue, 01/24/2017 - 12:00am
Close to 100 awards were presented on Saturday when the Pro Shottas Soccer Academy honoured its young players during its annual awards ceremony. Held at the Banks playing field on Collymore Rock, Head Coach Greg Castagne oversaw the distribution to youngsters who had put in hard work over the 2016 calendar year.
Speaking to members of the media, Castagne said that the academy had a tremendous year of achievements on and off the field with solid performances in local and international competition. Noting that 2016 was a year for developing the talent in the ranks, he expected even greater things in the coming years.
“Locally, it was a developmental year, which means we played a lot of players up their division. We didn’t play our strongest teams and yet we won two local titles – the Barbados Cup Under-15 and we won the BFA Youth Tournament Under-11. This year we expect to do very well. We are playing all our strongest teams to see how they do before looking to go to Edinburgh and Manchester next year,” he said.
With sights set on hosting an international tournament in Barbados next year as well as having a regional tour this year and the invitation of Division 1 North Carolina University Head Coach, John Miglarese to Barbados this year, Castagne said that the only way to go for his academy is forward.
“I think what keeps it alive and what keeps it going is that the coaches have bought into our philosophy of dedication and discipline. All of them are qualified now, they do their courses and certification. And the club is not just the players. It’s the players, the parents, the committees and everyone works together. I think, if I was to use one word, it would would be discipline and belief. Belief that we can achieve, that we can win internationally. We have to let our boys and girls dream big,” he said.
(MP)