Panamanians demonstrating “European-style flair”
Wednesday 8th May 2013 – Panama City, Panama: As the Digicel Kick Start Clinics leave the Caribbean and move to Central America to find the best three players who will attend the Digicel Academy in Barbados, the Chelsea FC Foundation Coaches who are leading the programme continue to be impressed by the footballing talent they are seeing.
Chelsea FC Foundation’s Senior International Football Development Officer and Head Coach for the Digicel Kick Start Clinics, David Monk, has high hopes for the players from Central America – especially since he has seen such tremendous talent across the Caribbean so far. Now in Panama, the coaches are hosting the best of the country’s aspiring young footballers – as well as a group of its top local coaches – for a two-day football clinic and coaching session.
“We saw what the Panamanian boys can do during last year’s Academy and as such, we are keen to see the quality this time around at the clinics. Panama has a high ranking among the CONCACAF standings, so we expect to see high quality players making it through to the Academy.
“The boys’ style of play is very similar to that of European football. These players are very much in tune with the “La Liga” in Spain and the Premier League in England which is evident in how they move the ball around the pitch. They are also very versatile and tend to play with flair – so they get very creative with the ball at times.”
The boys participating in this year’s clinics in Panama have a lot to live up to as they are aiming to better their compatriots who were among the best players at the 2012 Digicel Academy in Barbados. Notably, one of them – Kevin Gomez – received the award for top player. The 2013 selections were yesterday named as Jairo Lombara, Juan Checa and Juan Mancilla, while the wildcard pick was Jean Velasquez.
“It is encouraging for us to see that the various football associations in the countries we visited go to great lengths to accommodate the Digicel Kick Start programme because of its valuable contribution to the development of the sport in their country. The Clinics are an opportunity for young players to showcase their talent and for the local football organisations’ to see what their future stars are capable of.
The Digicel Kick Start programme not only benefits the players, but since we have started to host training sessions for the local coaches as well, there is a strong developmental component for the countries that host the clinics – even after we leave.”
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