ST. LUCIA has produced ground-breaking results at the Digicel Kickstart Academy, which concluded at Sabina Park in Kingston Jamaica on Thursday. Having been previously selected from the Digicel St. Lucia Kickstart clinic at the Sab on April 12 to represent St. Lucia at the Kickstart Academy in Jamaica; Jervel Tobierre and Nyrone Winter, are two out of 12 selected from the Academy to move on to attend the Manchester City Football Academy later this year.
At the closing ceremony held on Thursday, immediately after the final whistle was blown at the training sessions, the Manchester City coaches led by Allan Dixon, Project Manager of Manchester City Football School programme, announced their top selection, with St. Lucia being the only Eastern Caribbean country to advance.
The boys all received honorary certificates of participation while the top twelve received a special Manchester City package each, which included passport cases, ManCity digital albums, ManCity pins, flash drives and an official congratulatory letter from Manchester City Football Club.
Jervel, from the community of Desruisseaux, expressed his excitement as the grand announcement was made; “I am really thankful for this opportunity to truly live my football dream. This experience to date has been life changing in every way, from the local pre-clinics in St. Lucia up until now. I thank God for blessing me, I’m thankful for the support of my family, coach and team and of course Digicel in helping me achieve this.”
Nyrone, from the community of La Ressource Vieux Fort added his own elation, stating “I am happy to have another opportunity to represent my country on this level. I’m excited to go to Manchester and get further professional experience. I intend to make the best of this journey and to also share my experience and knowledge with my colleagues both on and off the field and make my family, my community and my country proud.”