Brazil’s Bebeto, Jorginho to visit T&T on Wednesday.
Issued by Shaun Fuentes, CFU/TTFF Press Officer.
Former Brazilian football stars Bebeto and Jorginho will be arriving in this country next Wednesday to participate in the Xchange Youth Leadership Workshop being held here next week.
The workshop is being organized by organised by UNICEF in collaboration with Trinidadian Organisers Island People and Xtatik.
The UNICEF Regional Office of Latin America With the support of TRAFFIC USA, has invited Bebeto and Jorgino to present their social sport project currently being implemented in Brazil. The project entitled "Bola pra Frente" is a sports-based project for communities in areas of deprivation such as the Social Inclusion Partnership areas in Brazil.
At the Caribbean Football Union Congress in Barbados last month, UNICEF delivered a presentation in which interesting ideas on how their organization could work with regional football to build a new movement of young people, families and communities working against violence. And out of that and the go ahead from CONCACAF and CFU President Jack Warner, UNICEF is now aiming to play a more active role in using its workshop for youngsters to inject a more positive lifestyle among the youth.
Technical Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Lincoln Phillips has also been invited to attend the workshop and he will meet with the two members of Brazil’s 1994 Winning World Cup team. Bebeto and Jorgino have also expressed interest in viewing one of this country’s senior team training sessions and will most likely do so next Friday morning.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to share experiences and advice,” Phillips told TTFF Media. “These two men are idols where they come from and they have tasted success at the highest level in football. They should definitely bring off a positive vibe and I think UNICEF and the other local organizations must be commended for this sort of venture.”
Viviana Limpias, Communication Officer, UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean added that UNICEF is now incorporating the power and potential of sport, recreation and play into its work in countries around the world.
“The Xchange movement is about building a new positive lifestyle using sports, music and art as an entry. It should allow those running sports-based projects to demonstrate their impact” stated Limpias.
Christine Norton, Regional Gender & Adolescent Advisor, UNICEF, noted too that the workshop was not only timely but will build on the natural habits and skills of young people in order to enhance their own abilities.
“Brazil has been very successful in creating innovative programmes to reach young people and create learning communities.” Norton said. “These have had a positive impact not only for the country but on the lives of the young people,” she added.The workshop runs from March 14-18 at Pier 1, Chaguaramas during which time young people from the Caribbean who range between the ages of 18 – 25 years, from the countries of Belize, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad will share experiences and circumstances peculiar to their societies.
