Inaugural Football Holiday Camp 2011 – week I

THE BREWSTER TRUST’s first public programme in Barbados meets with coaches’ and children’s approval, fantastic feedbacks after the first days.

THE BREWSTER TRUST’s Inaugural Football Holiday Camp 2011 is for girls, boys and also for children with disabilities. It started on July 4th 2011 with a coaching course for football coaches. 42 local coaches registered for the programme. This week 120 children aged seven to ten years are coached at the FIFA approved UWI artificial turf football field at Paradise Park, The Lazaretto, from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm daily.

Coaches from Arsenal FC
THE BREWSTER TRUST is a partner of Arsenal FC and the Gap Year Programmes 2010 to 2013. Nathaniel P. Brewster, Vice-President and co-founder of THE BREWSTER TRUST says: “The development of sports based social inclusion initiatives has been last but not least the driver to step in and support the [Gap Year] programme. One approach of our Charity is to have qualified and experienced people who are dedicated to football and are willing to share their know-how.” The Arsenal coaches actually in Barbados are John Olaleye, Arsenal’s Gap Year Coordinator, Steve Eadon, Adam Tarrant, Ognjen Soskic and finally Nathaniel Brewster; the complete team got a very warm welcome in Barbados on July 3rd following an invitation of William Osbourne, President of the Arsenal Barbados Supporter’s Club to meet the “Gunners”.

Coach the coaches
The first week of the programme was dedicated to the football coaches. Focus has been Kick-up skills, turns, passing, games like “football cricket” but also safety or organisation. Elements of team building like the daily lunch as well as social life off the pitch like the invitation to the Cup Final on Sunday completed the programme. 20 coaches of the 42 participants last week followed the invitation to assist the Gappers in this week to execute what they’ve learnt.
The most outstanding coach will be awarded participation at the next Arsenal Gap Year programme in London for one month including accommodation as well as travel costs.

Three age groups
The Holiday Camp proceeds with three different age groups, 7 – 10 years (July 11th – 15th), 11 – 14 years (July 18th – 22nd) and 15 – 18 years (July 25th – 29th). The training sessions are age group and performance related and following THE BREWSTER TRUST’s mission it is football for everybody straight from the beginner.
Coaching elements are and will be multifarious, with a daily competition and based on the session, basic passing techniques, dribbling and turning at speed, slalom, turns, control and heading sessions including aerial control. Focus will also be on using various parts of the body like feet, knees or chest, basic techniques of shooting with emphasis on shooting with various parts of the strong and the weak feet and mini matches at the end of the week. This will be followed by presentations to all players as well as “Player of the Week” and “Fair Play” awards being handed out.

Focus children
The Inaugural Football Holiday comes complete with camp basics but also includes extras for parental comfort and focus on the children like participant insurance coverage, ambulance service, physiotherapist, hot healthy lunches and afternoon fruit breaks, isotonic beverages or some branded memorabilia.
Axel Bernhardt, CEO of THE BREWSTER TRUST states: “It was interesting to get feedback after the launch of the programme in the first week of June 2011 and also after the first day with 120 children. Parents appreciated the information provided. We offered this camp free of charge only asking for a registration free of BDS$ 20.00 which is fully refundable after five days participation. Of course we still have to answer some questions about our organisation as we just started our mission to promote, develop and improve football in Barbados with the aim of creating opportunities at all levels, but especially for the youth. We are very delighted with the response and reception of our initiative.”

THE BREWSTER TRUST’s camp partners for the Inaugural Football Holiday Camp 2011 are Arsenal FC, The University of the West Indies, The Barbados Football Association and the Barbados Bottling Company.

Impressions? Visit our camp gallery