Following a week of intensive training at Manchester City’s elite training and youth development facility, the City Football Academy, six of the Caribbean’s top young footballers have returned home even more determined to make their dreams come true through the Digicel Kick-Start programme.

The boys, who spent the week honing their skills with Manchester City’s global coaches, are even more excited than before to make their mark on the footballing world and to share what they have learned with their teammates when they return home. They braved the elements and pushed themselves further than they have ever done before to take their game to the next level – impressing Manchester City FC’s youth coaches, who deliver training programmes across the globe with City Football Schools.

Thanks to live coverage and daily updates from the training camp courtesy of the LOOP news app, Digicel SportsMax TV, Digicel’s digital media platforms, which have a three million strong following, and the Jamaica Observer, thousands of football fans across the Caribbean were enthralled by the progress that the boys were making and to see how much they were learning from the Manchester City FC coaches.

Digicel Group Marketing Operations Director, Kieran Foley, said: “The experience at Manchester City FC is one we hope they will cherish and learn from, as the youth football programme there is exceptional. The number of interactions we saw on our digital platforms regarding the boys’ experience from fans back home was truly impressive and is testament to the strength and popularity of the sport across the region and the support that they have garnered as a result. Through our partnership with one of the best football organisations in the world, we endeavoured to expose the Caribbean’s aspiring young talent to the best football training available so that they can use football as a vehicle to achieve their goals in life – both on and off the pitch.”

The players not only trained hard but had fun and made friends – which is part of what the Digicel Kick-Start programme aims to do – bringing people from all backgrounds together using the beautiful game of football.

Gavin Rhodes, Head of City Football Schools, commented: “We were thrilled to host some of the Caribbean’s best young footballing talent at the City Football Academy where we saw their skills and passion for the sport shine through every day of the programme. The commitment and dedication of the six Kick-Start players never failed to impress our City Football Schools coaches and, as a result, we are all looking forward to continuing our support of this programme in the future. Digicel is one of the biggest supporters of football in the Caribbean region and being a part of its Kick-Start programme is an honour for us all.”