Mandeville, Manchester – It’s coming from small beginnings but Andrew Edwards, head of Genesis Football Academy, has big plans for his project to help in the transformation of local football in the years to come.

Genesis was started in January, 2016 with the aim of “laying the foundation for footballers of the future”, Edwards told Jamaica Observer Central.

As the situation now stands, the academy accommodates “ballers” from age three to 17 for football training and study at the Manchester High School grounds on Saturday mornings.

The academy has evolved since 2016 with a Board of Directors now in place, which includes former president of the Jamaica Football Federation Crenston Boxhill, and other “prominent citizens” of Manchester and Kingston.

Edwards says “a big part of what we do” at Genesis is to encourage members of the academy to excel at both academics and football, which will bolster their chances of success as student footballers at university or as professional footballers after high school.

As part of the effort to encourage a good balance between academics and football, Edwards, acting on behalf of the Genesis Academy, donated a cheque to 14-year-old Javain Lindsay at the start of the school term in September. Lindsay is a member of Genesis and of the Manchester High School Under-16 football squad.

“We want to be able to do more and more of this,” said Edwards, who is the football head coach at Manchester High and a former national age group coach.