Kingston, Jamaica — Local coaches benefited from a Flow/ESPN football clinic that introduced online technologies to bolster football performance.

The clinic was led by the US-based company ISoccer.org and Andre Virtue of Whole Life Ministries, who exposed coaches to revolutionary training methods and procedures via several drills and online tutorial programmes.

The two-day clinic which took place at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay recently sought to strengthen the coaching skills of coaches from all over Jamaica. Virtue, who is the local organiser of the camp, said the camp was formulated to keep the rural coaches up to speed with the latest international techniques to improve their overall training capabilities. It forms part of a broader programme that Flow initiated last year as part of its investment in local football.

Under that programme last year, Flow teamed up with its international broadcast partners ESPN to expose 40 local coaches and over 100 players to the expertise of international football stars Robbie Earle, Frank Leboeuf, Shaka Hislop, Russell Latapy and Uche Okafor, who conducted several coaching seminars at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

The clinic will continue later this year in November as the broader Flow/ESPN group returns to build on this initial training.

Explaining how the clinic works, Virtue said: “ISoccer is a programme with an assessment tool which the coaches will use to break down the technical level of a player, as well as to identify weaknesses within that player. The tool is called the National Assessment which is a test to measure individual players overall technical ability. Those tests involve juggling, dribbling, first touch and pass, aerial control and ball skills,” he explained.

Speaking on the joint initiative, Sharon Roper, Vice President of Marketing at Flow said that it was very important to support local football talent. “The sport of football has been one of the most popular avenues for youth development in Jamaica. The national football programme has resulted in many opportunities for young men for social mobility and personal development. Flow is, therefore, pleased to team up with ESPN, Isoccer.org and Whole Life Ministries to strengthen the sport.