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Taken from www.jamaica-gleaner.com
Real Madrid-style academy for MoBay
published: Tuesday | June 26, 2007
Adrian Frater, News Editor
Director-General of [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Real [COLOR=black! important]Madrid[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Foundation, Carlos Abella (left), Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica Jesús Silva (centre) and Michelle Rollins of the John Rollins Foundation pose shortly after signing the declaration of intent to establish a [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]football[/COLOR][/COLOR] academy in Montego Bay.
Western Bureau:
Top Spanish football club Real Madrid yesterday signed a declaration of intent with the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, which will ultimately lead to the establishment of a football academy on lands donated by the John Rollins Foundation in Rose Hall, St. James, within the next three months.
"This will be the first [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]academy[/COLOR][/COLOR] that will be established in both the Caribbean and a non-[COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Spanish[/COLOR][/COLOR] speaking country," said Carlos Abella, the director-general of the Real Madrid Foundation, which has already established 10 such entities in Spain.
Former national goalkeeper, Aaron Lawrence, will manage theacademy, which will be modelled on the Real Madrid Foundation's School of Social Integration.
Lawrence has been working with the annual John Rollins Foundation's 'Football Summer Camp', which was established five years ago.
"We are happy and proud to be a part of this wonderful initiative and we are expecting it to be a resounding success," said land developer Michelle Rollins of the John Rollins Foundation. "We have a vested interest in the development of our young people, so we had no hesitation in donating the lands and being a part of the overall project."
COSTLY VENTURE
While the cost to establish the academy is yet to be decided, Spanish Ambassador Jesús Silva expects it to be a costly venture.
However, with funding expected from Spanish investors such as the Iberostar Hotel & Resort, MBJ Airport Limited, Bahia Principe, Palladium Hotel & Resort and RIU, which forms the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, he has no doubts that the project will be a success.
"We are totally committed to this project, as our investors are here to invest in Jamaica and the development of its people," said Ambassador Silva. "We are not expecting any difficulty in securing the required financing."
In explaining how the academy will work, a confident sounding Lawrence, who represented Jamaica in the 1998 World Cup in France, said it would initially facilitate boys and girls between the ages of 7-15 from the parishes of St. James, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover.
"It is not only going to be about football, we will be looking at the total development of these youngsters," said Lawrence. "In fact, to emphasise our commitment to that goal, we will only be working with kids who are able to maintain a 50 per cent average in school."
Lawrence, who has been invited by the Real Madrid Foundation to visit the club with a view to improving his coaching technique as well as developing an understanding of their system, said he plans to bring other former Reggae Boyz into the programme.
"This is an opportunity to give somethingback to Jamaica as well as expose our youngsters to the kind of structured programmes that we never had as youngsters," said Lawrence. "I strongly believe that is going to take programmes like these to lay the foundation required for future Jamaican teams to qualify for the World Cup."
LOOKING FORWARD TO SUCCESS
Former Real Madrid star of the 1960s, Manuel Velazquez - who won six Spanish League titles, three Spanish Cups and one European Cup with the club and is now special adviser to the president of the club - said he was quite excited about what such a project can do for young footballers in Jamaica. I am extremely happy that we are able to help these children to become better human beings," said Velazquez. "I am really looking forward to the success of this project."
Real Madrid-style academy for MoBay
published: Tuesday | June 26, 2007
Adrian Frater, News Editor
Director-General of [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Real [COLOR=black! important]Madrid[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Foundation, Carlos Abella (left), Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica Jesús Silva (centre) and Michelle Rollins of the John Rollins Foundation pose shortly after signing the declaration of intent to establish a [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]football[/COLOR][/COLOR] academy in Montego Bay.
Western Bureau:
Top Spanish football club Real Madrid yesterday signed a declaration of intent with the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, which will ultimately lead to the establishment of a football academy on lands donated by the John Rollins Foundation in Rose Hall, St. James, within the next three months.
"This will be the first [COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]academy[/COLOR][/COLOR] that will be established in both the Caribbean and a non-[COLOR=black! important][COLOR=black! important]Spanish[/COLOR][/COLOR] speaking country," said Carlos Abella, the director-general of the Real Madrid Foundation, which has already established 10 such entities in Spain.
Former national goalkeeper, Aaron Lawrence, will manage theacademy, which will be modelled on the Real Madrid Foundation's School of Social Integration.
Lawrence has been working with the annual John Rollins Foundation's 'Football Summer Camp', which was established five years ago.
"We are happy and proud to be a part of this wonderful initiative and we are expecting it to be a resounding success," said land developer Michelle Rollins of the John Rollins Foundation. "We have a vested interest in the development of our young people, so we had no hesitation in donating the lands and being a part of the overall project."
COSTLY VENTURE
While the cost to establish the academy is yet to be decided, Spanish Ambassador Jesús Silva expects it to be a costly venture.
However, with funding expected from Spanish investors such as the Iberostar Hotel & Resort, MBJ Airport Limited, Bahia Principe, Palladium Hotel & Resort and RIU, which forms the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, he has no doubts that the project will be a success.
"We are totally committed to this project, as our investors are here to invest in Jamaica and the development of its people," said Ambassador Silva. "We are not expecting any difficulty in securing the required financing."
In explaining how the academy will work, a confident sounding Lawrence, who represented Jamaica in the 1998 World Cup in France, said it would initially facilitate boys and girls between the ages of 7-15 from the parishes of St. James, Trelawny, Westmoreland and Hanover.
"It is not only going to be about football, we will be looking at the total development of these youngsters," said Lawrence. "In fact, to emphasise our commitment to that goal, we will only be working with kids who are able to maintain a 50 per cent average in school."
Lawrence, who has been invited by the Real Madrid Foundation to visit the club with a view to improving his coaching technique as well as developing an understanding of their system, said he plans to bring other former Reggae Boyz into the programme.
"This is an opportunity to give somethingback to Jamaica as well as expose our youngsters to the kind of structured programmes that we never had as youngsters," said Lawrence. "I strongly believe that is going to take programmes like these to lay the foundation required for future Jamaican teams to qualify for the World Cup."
LOOKING FORWARD TO SUCCESS
Former Real Madrid star of the 1960s, Manuel Velazquez - who won six Spanish League titles, three Spanish Cups and one European Cup with the club and is now special adviser to the president of the club - said he was quite excited about what such a project can do for young footballers in Jamaica. I am extremely happy that we are able to help these children to become better human beings," said Velazquez. "I am really looking forward to the success of this project."
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