Cayman Islands: ESM develops local youth football talent with UK experiences
Excel Sports Management Ltd (ESM) maintained their commitment to developing local football talent through coordinating a London Tour for several young athletes over the past fall mid-term break.
10 players, aged 9 to 14, received 5 days of football experiences, including training and games at a variety of levels, including Premi
Excel Sports Management Ltd (ESM) maintained their commitment to developing local football talent through coordinating a London Tour for several young athletes over the past fall mid-term break.
10 players, aged 9 to 14, received 5 days of football experiences, including training and games at a variety of levels, including Premier league clubs Tottenham FC and WestHam FC, Champions league club Ipswich Town and non-league Basingstoke FC.
According to ESM Director, Virgil Seymour, the purpose of the trip was to give the young players a fun football experience over their school break, while gaining international experience designed to challenge their football skills and social development on and off the field. “The trip was a great success, the boys had fun, learned a lot about themselves and football and had some amazing opportunities to train at world class facilities with world class coaches,” Mr. Seymour said.
Jack Kirkconnell, Corey Smith, Josh Small, Cameron Smith, Gilbert Rodrigues, Darius Rezaei, Immanuel Duran, Jaydon Whittaker, Kyan Okoli and Kaydin Ebanks all developed not only their football skills but also their personal skills off the pitch.
“Although the boys were each at different levels of football experience and skills, they were all challenged in unique ways. The exposure to all levels of English football, both professional and non-league, provided some much needed perspective for our players,” Mr. Seymour said.
“It was pleasing to see how all players adapted quickly to the environment in England. Despite being out of their comfort zone for large parts of the trip, they did not look out of place, which is definitely a credit to how well they are maturing as footballers,” ESM coach, Adam Clark, said.
This trip marks the second trip arranged by ESM in recent months, after 4 players, Justin Byles, Jackson Kirkconnell, Corey Smith and Immanuel Duran, took part in a UK trip over the summer to train for two weeks with Ipswich Town.
14 year old footballer, Jackson Kirkconnell, said the biggest challenges they faced were the cold weather and pace of play however these challenges helped everyone on the trip to become better players.
“In Cayman we always know what to expect because we play the same players from primary school league, so this opportunity challenged my ability to assess a game and quickly adjust my play in order to be effective. I also learned that no matter how much natural talent you have, hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work,” Mr Kirkconnell said.
Outside of training and matches, the players had the chance to watch the Tottenham vs WestHam match at Wembley stadium and met several professional players, including Harry Winks, Scott Parker and Reiss Nelson.
IMAGE:
Photo Caption – Darius Rezaei and Immanuel Duran after their game with Tottenham
er league clubs Tottenham FC and WestHam FC, Champions league club Ipswich Town and non-league Basingstoke FC.
According to ESM Director, Virgil Seymour, the purpose of the trip was to give the young players a fun football experience over their school break, while gaining international experience designed to challenge their football skills and social development on and off the field. “The trip was a great success, the boys had fun, learned a lot about themselves and football and had some amazing opportunities to train at world class facilities with world class coaches,” Mr. Seymour said.
Jack Kirkconnell, Corey Smith, Josh Small, Cameron Smith, Gilbert Rodrigues, Darius Rezaei, Immanuel Duran, Jaydon Whittaker, Kyan Okoli and Kaydin Ebanks all developed not only their football skills but also their personal skills off the pitch.
“Although the boys were each at different levels of football experience and skills, they were all challenged in unique ways. The exposure to all levels of English football, both professional and non-league, provided some much needed perspective for our players,” Mr. Seymour said.
“It was pleasing to see how all players adapted quickly to the environment in England. Despite being out of their comfort zone for large parts of the trip, they did not look out of place, which is definitely a credit to how well they are maturing as footballers,” ESM coach, Adam Clark, said.
This trip marks the second trip arranged by ESM in recent months, after 4 players, Justin Byles, Jackson Kirkconnell, Corey Smith and Immanuel Duran, took part in a UK trip over the summer to train for two weeks with Ipswich Town.
14 year old footballer, Jackson Kirkconnell, said the biggest challenges they faced were the cold weather and pace of play however these challenges helped everyone on the trip to become better players.
“In Cayman we always know what to expect because we play the same players from primary school league, so this opportunity challenged my ability to assess a game and quickly adjust my play in order to be effective. I also learned that no matter how much natural talent you have, hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work,” Mr Kirkconnell said.
Outside of training and matches, the players had the chance to watch the Tottenham vs WestHam match at Wembley stadium and met several professional players, including Harry Winks, Scott Parker and Reiss Nelson.
IMAGE:
Photo Caption – Darius Rezaei and Immanuel Duran after their game with Tottenham