JamaicaN midfielder, Akeem Brown, was among eight Caribbean players selected for a one-week training stint with English Premier League club Sunderland.

Brown, 17, was the only Jamaican included while there were two players each from Haiti and St Kitts & Nevis and one each from Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname and Guyana.
Brown, a student of Wolmer's Boys' who also represents Meadhaven FC, was elated at being selected.

Jamaica's Akeem Brown (right) poses with Digicel head coach, John Barnes (second right), at a press conference yesterday. Looking on (from left) are CFU president, Austin Warner and Colm Delves of Digicel.

"I'm overexcited," Brown told the Sunday Observer yesterday after the selections were announced at the Digicel Kick Start Clinic press conference at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel.
"I'm just hoping to do my best and my aim is to secure a contract," said Brown, who idolises Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and lists Manchester United as his favourite club.
Brown also paid tribute to his former coach, David "Wagga" Hunt, who passed away last year.

"This is a tribute to him. He was my coach, mentor, and was like a father," said Brown, who had been under Hunt's guidance since he was 12 years old.

Other players selected are Joseph Guemsley (18) and Renaud Brisley (18) from Haiti; Gerard Williams (19) and Devaughn Elliot (16) from St Kitts and Nevis; Suriname's Emilio Limon (19); Leston Paul (17) and Andrew Murray (17) of Guyana.

Seven of the eight players selected are midfielders, with the only striker being Murray of Guyana.

Originally, the Digicel Clinic, which started in January across eight islands, was supposed to select just six players, but Colm Delves, Digicel's Group CEO, said Sunderland were so impressed with what they saw they decided to add an additional two players to the list.

Those two players are Elliot of St Kitts & Nevis and Murray of Guyana.

"Such was the level of talent that was evidenced during the seven-week Digicel tour, Niall Quinn has decided to allow two more places to travel to Sunderland," said Delves after coach John Barnes had named the original six players.
Quinn is a former Irish international footballer, and the current chairman of Sunderland.

"We are delighted with the fantastic success of our inaugural Digicel Kick Start Clinics and are excited about the role this initiative is already playing in the development of our young football talent," noted Delves.

Jamaican-born Barnes, who represented England 79 times and scored 12 goals, said in his weeks of travelling across the Caribbean he has seen an abundance of talent, which was not surprising.

"I was surprised at the discipline, organisation and interest shown by the players. Caribbean football is moving in the right direction," Barnes pointed out.

Barnes, a former Watford and Liverpool winger, said he was pleasantly surprised by the players in the smaller islands.

Said Barnes: "I know that Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago are ahead, but I was surprised with the level I saw in St Kitts; for a little island the quality there is very impressive".

"I know these players will prove that they are just as good as the players at Sunderland. Once they show the right discipline, words will get around and clubs will be sending their scouts to the Caribbean," Barnes added.

Peter Jenkins, president of the St Kitts & Nevis Football Federation, was at the function and told the Sunday Observer he was not surprised two players from his country with a population of 40,000 were selected.

"I'm excited, ecstatic. We started the development programme three years ago and the clinic came at the right time where we can see where we are in comparison with the other countries," said Jenkins.

"We had three in the short list and that shows we're trying to create an industry. Where there is a will there is hope and we want to be on top of CONCACAF," added Jenkins.

FIFA vice-president and Caribbean Football Union's (CFU) president, Austin "Jack" Warner of Trinidad & Tobago, compared the clinic to a man having his first child, or getting married.

"Personally for me, I have a sense of pride and these eight players will help bring national pride back into Caribbean football," said the CFU boss.

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