CHANTIMELLE ACADEMY RECEIVES A BOOST – GFA Grassroots programme visits community

LAST Saturday it was a morning filled with fun, excitement and fierce friendly competition among the
children at the Chantimelle Football Academy (CFA) as they received their first ever visit from the Grenada Football Association’s (GFA) Grassroots programme.

Leading the GFA team was Technical Director, Mr. Lester Smith. In his opening address to the children, Mr. Smith welcomed them to the programme, encouraged their full participation and thanked the CFA for its football initiatives. He then went on to present kits to the females at the academy. Smith spurred them on to garner their female friends and get them involved in football, so they too can benefit from the tremendous opportunities that now exist in the sport. With that it was onto the business of the day.

The Chantimelle Football Academy (CFA)
took part in the Grenada Football Association’s (GFA)
Grassroots programme on Saturday.

The young ones were broken up into three age groups – 5-10, 11-14 and 14-19. A coach, including one from England, was then assigned to each group and the day’s activities began. It was competition at its best, as the youth displayed their very best skills to impress the coaches and earn victories for their
respective teams. At the end of it all, they were all winners, benefitting not only from the experience and knowledge of the coaches, but also from the physical exercise and fun the session had to offer.

Also present was national women’s team coach, Nat Simpson. In his address to the children at the end of the day’s session, he was quick to point out how impressed he was with the display of talent and skill that he witnessed and as such thanked the CFA for its bold initiatives. Nonetheless, he impressed upon them, the need to be consistent in training and harnessing the correct attitude to develop those talents and skills to attain future success.

Simpson also appealed for greater participation of females in the academy and insisted that once the CFA can provide adequate number of players, a specialist female coach will be assigned to the academy via the GFA Secretariat to assist in the development of these players.

Acting President of the CFA, Jelani Glean, who introduced Mr. Smith and his team to the children, also addressed them at the close of the session. He began by thanking Mr. Smith and his team, who committed to continue future assistance and development of the CFA, for their interest and assistance to the CFA.

Glean further extended his gratitude to Mr. Cheney Joseph, whom he claims was instrumental in bringing the Grassroots programme to Chantimelle, after he saw the initiatives being undertaken at the village to develop the community’s youth and football product. Moreover, he motivated the children to take full advantage of the opportunities that the CFA is making available to them through partners such
as the GFA. To Mr. Smith and Coach Simpson, Glean promised that the CFA will spare no effort to enhance the roll of its female members and appealed for the CFA to be remembered whenever coaching, refereeing, sports medicine and other developmental programmes become available.

Finally, to end the day, Mr. Smith presented four balls to the CFA as a symbol of the GFA’s commitment to the development of the academy, thanked everyone for turning out and served them some refreshments. Moreover, with more support for partnerships such as the CFA and GFA, Grenada’s football product can only get better.