THE Real Madrid Foundation of Spain will be hosting a training workshop in Trinidad and Tobago from today through Saturday for coaches of the Real Madrid Football Academies in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This is in an effort to provide trainers and coaches with the necessary tools and knowledge to enable them to more efficiently instruct and mentor the children, in keeping with the Foundation’s programme slogan “They play, we teach”.

The training will be carried out by Victor de Arce, a Spanish Real Madrid Foundation coach, who has received academic training in Sports and a postgraduate degree in Psychology.

In keeping with its commitment to provide top quality training for the children enrolled in its programme in Jamaica, The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation will fund the travel expenses for the coaches of its Real Madrid Football School for Social Integration, former Reggae Boyz goalkeeper, Aaron Lawrence and his assistant, Milton Stewart.

The coaches were scheduled to leave for Trinidad yesterday for the three-day training exercise.

During the training the coaches will garner knowledge and technical expertise. Not only will they expand their coaching ability and gain knowledge, which they will be able to impart to their Jamaican trainees, but they will also be trained in the social aspects of their work, namely the challenges that arise from being role models and to some extent mentors of the young people at their charge, at the Real Madrid Football School for Social Integration, Rose Hall.

The Real Madrid Foundation has recently expanded its presence in the English-speaking Caribbean with the establishment of an Academy in Port of Spain, funded by the LNG company Atlantic (of which the Spanish energy firm REPSOL is a major stakeholder), through the offices of the Spanish Embassy in that country. The academies, in Jamaica and now in Trinidad and Tobago, are testimony to the commitment of the Spanish private sector to the development of the communities of both countries.