Local Football gets Liverpool boost

Local Football received a shot in the arm last Tuesday when a high level team from renowned English Premier Football Club, Liverpool, conducted screening sessions with local coaches.{{more}}

A collaboration between Liverpool and Harlequin Hotels and Resorts, the intent is to set up a Football Academy at the Buccament Bay Resort.

Head of Liverpool’s International Soccer School, Adam Flynn, told SEARCHLIGHT that three coaches will be selected from the one-day session held at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.

“What we were looking for are well organized, confident coaches who know how to coach,” Flynn, a coach for six years, stated.

Flynn, a former Liverpool reserve team player, said that the successful candidates are expected “to run the Football Programme” at the Academy.

“Those who are selected will go to England and be with Liverpool for about one week, to learn the Liverpool way, which is the biggest and best way to learn,” Flynn boasted.

Tuesday’s session, which was filmed by Liverpool’s television crew, also saw the prospective coaches conducting forty-minute sessions with the National Under-17 male Football team as part of their assessment, following which they were involved in one-on-one interviews, with the Liverpool personnel.

One of the prospective coaches, Roger Gurley, told SEARCHLIGHT that it was an honour to be part of the process.

“I felt honoured, as it will be an opportunity to experience one of world’s top club’s systems,” Gurley said.

“ My experience was a great one; it was the first time I have done so many interviews in front of a camera in one day,” Gurley, who was at one point this country’s Senior National Football Coach, reflected.

“For me, it was a great selling point for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with the camera crew around,” Gurley said.

“Also, it will also do good for players and other coaches here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he stated.

Ralph Stowe, another of the candidates, described his impression of the venture.

“It is a much needed boost for the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and for Football to have a club like Liverpool associated with us,” Stowe said.

Recounting his experience, Stowe, a teacher by profession, recalled: “I have been involved in Football for a long time, but it was the first that I was being assessed in that manner. I was nervous very nervous at first”.

Apart from Flynn, David Fairclough, a former Liverpool first team player, was on hand to assess the local stock of coaches.