tangible ways.“Sometimes you can't see theimpact as the roots will haveto grow deep, a lot of peoplebecause it's development, youdon't see it right away, butdown the road those roots willgrow deep and we will reap therewards… what we are doingis planting seeds and one dayit will germinate and multiply,”Virtue told the Observer.“Now we are giving the kidsa forum and letting them knowwe care.”The Scotiabank ConcacafNextPlay Programme, inessence, is a wide-ranging,multi-sectoral activation thatseeks to improve the lives ofprimary school children, usingtheir love for football as leverageand a vehicle to expose them tovital life skills.Virtue thinks that impactingyoung lives at that level canredound to better societies in theCaribbean region in the future.“What we are teaching (atNextPlay) is that there is lifebefore the game, during thegame and after the game,” saidthe former Harbour View man.Looking back at the NextPlayfestival in Chicago and theother activities annexed to theConcacaf Gold Cup, Virtuespointed to the power of footballto cut across cultures.On Saturday at the CIBC FirePitch, 40 children from fourCaribbean islands — Jamaica,The Bahamas, Barbados andTrinidad and Tobago — joined45 from the local Chicago areain an explosion of fun activitieswith football the central point.The Caribbean primary schoolkids were the winners of theirrespective NextPlay Cup competitions.Jamaica was representedby Holy Family Primaryand Infant School.“Anybody who has travelledthe world knows the value ofmeeting and respecting peopleirrespective of class and race,school and education, so if youare in a place where you are ableto play ball with someone youdon't know, but realising thatthey love the game just as muchas you do and that they can playtoo, your appreciation for thatindividual changes.“Not to mention if you putthem on the same team, wherenow they have the same collectivegoal, and it does not matterwhether you come from Jamaicaor Bahamas, because now theyare going to play to win thisgame, and that's the magicbecause now these kids arelearning the value of workingwith someone from a differentculture, with different valuesand different experiences,”said Virtue, who is married toRaquel with two boys Christianand Jaden.“So yes, cross-culturally it(NextPlay) goes a far way (as) theclassroom is not just betweenthose four walls, it's out therein the world,” he added.Virtue, 43, says as NextPlaypushes on to self-actualisation,he would like to see an escalationof programmes to get coaches tofully grasp the value of teachinglife values through the sport.“My vision is to have a focuson coaching education to havemore people to understand thevalues and the lessons that canbe taught through the game…every professional club you talkto they want a different type ofplayer: one who is disciplined,one who can communicate and ateam player, and these are qualitiesthat can be taught throughthe sport,” he said.Virtue says as part of theworkshop for voluntary coachesfor Saturday's NextPlay event,the focus was on getting theparticipants to connect betweenfootball instruction and lifecoaching.“We had a workshop with thecoaches and the conversationwith the them is that they understandit (concept of NextPlay),yet they don't see how they canhelp a child to connect what'shappening on the football fieldand what's happening at home,but when the coaches get it youhave an impact because they seeit.“When you get the kidstogether you say to them thatthe same way when they are onthe field the football is the mostimportant thing, is the sameway you need to recognise thatif you have something valuableand you don't share it, whathappens? Just the same on thefootball field when that happens,it's the same in life, and footballgives you that without you haveto create it.“When you dribble, you aretrying to avoid obstacles, justthe same in life as you have toavoid obstacles, so we want toprepare them to be winners,”Virtue ended.Virtue takes grassroots passion to higher level