Youth teams in intensive camp

When overseas competition rolls around for the national youth teams later this summer, both the boys and girls should be better prepared for whatever they face, as both squads are currently in an elite camp hosted by the Barbados Football Association.

Running from July 4th to August 12th at the BFA headquarters in Wildey, the Under-17 Boys and the Under-15 Girls are readying themselves in the first-ever camp of its kind put on by the association.

With the boys preparing for the Round 1 of the Caribbean Football Union’s 2016 Qualifiers in St. Kitts and Nevis, where they face the hosts, Dominica and Cuba, and the girls heading off to Florida for an invitational tournament as preparation for their Under-17 competition next year, it was revealed by Camp Director, Renaldo Gilkes, that the thinking behind the initiative was to have the teams in a professional setting for a longer period ahead of their assignments.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate, Gilkes said that the camp was conceptualised by the BFA President.

“The camp is the brainchild of President, Randy Harris. I imagine, from his travel experiences and discussions with some of the officials from FIFA, he came up with the idea for this elite camp, so as to better prepare the junior national teams,” he said.

With both squads numbering 30 players each and made up up mostly locally-based talent, the boys’ team has two notable overseas additions in Nigel Griffith and Kaeson Trench. Gilkes explained that both players are of Barbadian parentage and have been in the system from the Under-15 squad.

“They were here from the Under-15 team, so they would have graduated to the Under-17, and because of their experience and their presence in academy teams in both Canada and the US, they add a bit of value to the team. They have both said that they enjoyed the camp and the boys are learning from them, as well as from the coach,” he said.

Gilkes, who has been working more closely with the boys, said that the girls had been doing impressively under the coaching of the highly-qualified Richard Forde, said that the camp had been moving along swimmingly.

“It has been fantastic! Their response in and out of the classroom has been tremendous. They have been going through subjects such as nutrition, laws of the game, etiquette and even Spanish. They have responded fantastically to each and every session on and off the pitch.” (MP)