KINGSTON, Jamaica — Harbour View FC and drink supplement Supligen will partner with United States-based outfit Global Premier Soccer (GPS) Portland Phoenix to scout for local talent and host a football clinic at the Harbour View Stadium on Saturday.

General Manager of the local club, Clyde Jureidini, said that the day will be packed with activities, including a football competition to showcase talented players.

“Saturday we’ll have a host of community oriented events, starting with a seminar with coach Alistair Bain from GPS. He has working with [fellow local Premier League team] Sporting Central Academy… he will work with Harbour View for a few days and there’ll be a football clinic.

“We have invited five or six teams within the community to send representation. Bain will be helping with some basic tactical and technical work with the youngsters, who will be aged 13 to 21 years old,” Jureidini said during a press announcement at the Jamaica Football Federation offices on Thursday.

Bain, the Youth Teams Director for GPS Portland Phoenix, told the Jamaica Observer that his organisation, located in New England, is also on a scouting mission.

“Through an agency arm and a former Harbour View player Damani Ralph, the trip was set for me to come down. Primarily, I’m here to look at some young players to see if there is an opportunity for one or two of them to get involved with our youth organisation. But also to come in and do some work myself with the local community and work with the youth coaches of the club

and try and provide training alternatives and programmes that we find quite successful,” said the man who hails from Glasgow, Scotland.

The clinic is scheduled for 1:00 to 3:00 pm before a community-based six-a-side tournament set to run from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Jureidini said the winner will get $20,000, while the second-placed team will pocket $10,000. Among the other entertainment activities, fans will be treated to a music and live performances after the exploits on the football field.

The entire day of action and festivities will be free of cost. Shawna Kidd, Dairy Nestle Jamaica Limited’s consumer marketing manager, said her company has a commitment to develop the communities and its youth.

 “Our support is about reaching out to the communities and in so doing we are completely at home in the staging of the football extravaganza and family fiesta that will take place at the Harbour View field.

“We are committed to developing our youth, boosting their confidence and also providing them with the skills they need, to not only realise their dreams, but to fulfil their potential and be the very best versions of themselves,” she said in her speech.

Supligen has also agreed to a $2-million sponsorship of Harbour View’s hosting of Group 3 in the preliminary round of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship in March.

Sanjay Myers