SOME 60 boys from leading preparatory and high schools completed their 40 hours of “footability” Saturday evening, led by former national player Wolde Harris, the director of the inaugural Jamaica Grassroots Football Christmas camp held at the National Water Commission field in Mona.

Harris, who played for the Reggae Boyz from 1995 to 2002, introduced to the players aged six to 18 to the fundamentals of football with the ability to play with both feet which he dubbed “footability”.

During the five-day camp, Harris got assistance from coaches such as Paul Campbell, Paul Young, and Fabian Davis as well as national midfielder, 28-year-old Khari Stephenson, who plays for Norwegian team Aalesund.

Veteran coach and Wolde’s father Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris also gave a pep talk at the camp.

According to Harris, who played for Clemson Tigers, Colorado Rapids, and New England Revolution in his prime years of football, the camp dealt with dribbling, passing and receiving, defending, and finishing, including goalkeeping.

“From day one the kids were very motivated, enthusiastic, and their eyes were saying: ‘I want to see what you have to tell me’,” he explained.

The 35-year-old Harris said that “this little round ball has shown me the world, exposed me to the world, as well as put money in my pocket.

“I felt a strong urge to give back to the sport that has given me so much, which is why I chose the coaches here because they also have some form of giving back to do.”

For 17 years Harris said he had played all over the world, living out of a bag for a sport that had given him “everything in life”.

He said there needed to be more attention at the prep school level which he said was the “future of national teams”.

Harris believes that “youth football is a viable industry onto itself” which is what his company Jamaica Grassroots Football “is all about”, especially the technical aspects of the game.

Expanding on footability, Harris said it was a “series of six moves… geared towards creating more two-footed football players and the DVD that we handed out has been the number one seller in the US soccer supplier magazine for the last couple years.

“You’ve seen it advertised even in the last World Cup and the creators of this DVD is two of my close friends, we went to school together… and had my assists of the 76 goals that I scored for Clemson University,” he emphasised.

Meanwhile Fabian Davis termed the camp the “Harris family foundation” where he and other coaches were “implementing the basic stuff of the game and developing the kids in the proper frame of mind and let them understand the whole deal about the sport”.

“This is the first step to great things in the future and this is where all of us started who are coaches today,” explained Davis.

Players in the camp are mostly from schools located in the Kingston and St Andrew metropolitan area, including top prep schools and finalists Lannaman and Vaz.

Along with his brothers Simba and Changa Harris, coaches assisting Wolde included Junior ‘Milo’ Bryan and Vaz Prep’s June Simpson.

After the camp, the Jamaica Grassroots Football will further train some 20 youngsters weekly, either at the NWC field or at their Coopers Hill residence in Red Hills.

Harris will also hold a Summer Camp this year, with the aid of sponsors such as Claro, Cuddies, National Commercial Bank, Institute of Sports, Locker Room Sports, and Best Dressed Chicken.