T&T's Leston Paul among Digicel's selectees for Sunderland training stint.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 17 captain Leston Paul will join his fellow countrymen Dwight Yorke, Carlos Edwards and Kenwyne Jones at Sunderland next month after being one of the eight players selected from the Digicel Kickstart clinic to train for one week at Sunderland’s Academy of Light.
This was announced at the final press conference hosted by Digicel at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on Saturday morning. Paul, a recent call up to the T&T Senior Team, was rated highly by Barnes who said that despite the fact that the Defence Force player was somewhat small in built for a midfielder, his level of skill and understanding for the game was enough to warrant his selection to go to Sunderland.
Of the eight players selected, two of them being late additions on the request of Barnes, seven are midfielders and one a forward. They include Joseph Guemley and Renaud Brisley (Haiti), Gerard Williams and Devaughn Elliot (St Kitts/Nevis), Akeem Brown (Jamaica), Emilio Limon (Surinam), Andrew Murray of Guyana and T&T’s Paul. The current T&T Under 20 team player, during his week in Sunderland will get time to interact with Jones and company and manager Roy Keane will also view part of the proceedings involving the Caribbean invitees.
Also in attendance at Saturday’s press conference was FIFA Vice President and Caribbean Football Union President Jack Warner, Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves, Jamaica’s Minister of Sport Olivia Babsy Grange and Jamaican FF President Horace Burrell.
According Warner: "These eight players will help bring National pride back into Caribbean football. Guyana, Haiti, St. Kitts & Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica now have new young football heroes to recognize.
Caribbean football is strong, as recent successes in World Cups have shown, and thanks to this Digicel initiative we have had the opportunity to demonstrate that our young footballers also have the talent and the dedication necessary to make a mark on the International stage."
Delves furrtherexplained: "We are delighted with the fantastic success of our inaugural Digicel Kick Start Clinics and excited about the role this initiative is already playing in the development of our young football talent.
"Sunderland AFC has been a magnificent partner in this initiative and we are confident that their relationship with Caribbean football will continue to grow from strength to strength," added Colm Delves.
The Digicel CEO also acknowledged that the Clinics would not have been made possible without the extraordinary commitment and energy of former England footballer and Caribbean native, John Barnes, who coached all eight clinics in eight countries in the past seven weeks. President Jack Warner and the Caribbean Football Union were also acknowledged as being crucial partners in ensuring that all elements of the Digicel Football Clinics ran smoothly.
Digicel Kick Start Clinics' Head Coach, John Barnes explained the selection: "In the six weeks of travelling, we have seen an abundance of talent, dedication, togetherness and commitment. It is important for all of the boys to know that the chosen eight players will represent every one of them. They are Caribbean Football Ambassadors and my hope, and I know it is also the hope of Digicel and the CFU, is that their journey to the UK will open people's eyes to the potential of the Caribbean as an untapped talent pool."
The eight Caribbean U-20 footballers will begin their Journey of Champions on 23 March where they will spend one week training under the guidance of the English Premier League's Coaches in Sunderland AFC's Academy of Light. At the end of their week's training, the young footballers will visit the Stadium of Light to watch Sunderland take on West Ham in the Barclay's English Premier League.
Much hope for selected Sunderland '8'.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).[/size]
Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Special Advisor Jack Warner says he expects Leston Paul to make maximum use of his one-week stay at Sunderland next month and is backing the little midfielder to bring back all the benefits to the local set up.
Warner said he remembered the days when the chance for any footballer to even step foot in Europe on any football venture was looked at as a once in a lifetime opportunity which came on the odd occasion for the region. But now it has turned into a much more regular occurrence and is set to take off even further.
“I think the decision to take Leston was a good one. He has all the attributes of a good player and of course going there for the week will play a part in his development. It is up to him and the other selected players to make the full use of this opportunity and take it back to their respective countries. They must be role models for their other countrymen of that similar age group,” Warner told TTFF Media.
“I remember the days whenever there was the slightest hint that a player had a chance to play in England it was like a dream come true and now we are experiencing even more of these dreams. We have had John Barnes and Dwight Yorke and several others who have carried the torch and now we are hoping that with more opportunities like this one from Digicel will continue to keep that torch lighting.”
The other players selected to make the trip include Joseph Guemley and Renaud Brisley (Haiti), Gerard Williams and Devaughn Elliot (St Kitts/Nevis), Akeem Brown (Jamaica), Emilio Limon (Surinam) and Guyana’s Andrew Murray.
On the selection of Paul, clinic coach John Barnes said: “The infrastructure, the dedication, the desire - these are the elements and the attributes I was looking for. Leston Paul who has been called into the full national team is the second player I have chosen. He was quite small because the rest of the Trinidad team was huge. He was their central midfield player, played in front of the back four but he had good quality, good skills and while he was playing against boys much bigger than himself he seemed to have the intelligence. A lot of is expected of Leston Paul, his quality really shun through in terms of his tactical discipline.”
“I have to say a I expected a lot from Trinidad and Jamaica but St Kitts really impressed me as well in terms of their interest and their organization,” Barnes added.
Warner meantime, revealed that more emphasis will be placed on the preparation of the T&T Women’s team for upcoming competitions. It is likely that both the National Olympic and Under 17 Women’s teams will head to the United States for training camps ahead of their respective CONCACAF final round tournaments.
Meantime, St Kitts/Nevis FA President Peter Jenkins extended gratitude for the opportunity given to two of his island’s bright upcoming talents.
“I didn’t come to Jamaica to hear the announcement because to me it was irrelevant. I came to give thanks to Digicel for giving hope to our country, our football development program and for giving hope to the boys of the region. This is going to energies the youngsters in terms of striving for excellence. This is what Digicel, the CFU and Sunderland have been able to do,” Jenkins said on Saturday.
“I am very, very pleased. We started on this youth development program about three years ago. We are on the right road and wee look forward to continuing our development. The boys who didn’t make it this time can now believe they still have a chance to go forward,” he added.