Sports Innovators Group (SIG) has signed a three-year agreement with Spanish La Liga club CA Osasuna. This partnership will see Jamaica benefiting from an annual football camp, organised by SIG with technical staffing from Club Osasuna for the next three years. The first camp happens at the Barbican Astro Turf in St Andrew from April 1 to 5.

SIG says this camp will provide what it describes as an “unparalleled opportunity” for young Jamaican football enthusiasts, boys and girls, ages eight to 17, to enhance their skills, learn from experienced coaches, and immerse themselves in the spirit of the game.

“After the success of the inaugural SL Benfica camp last year, we felt, from a strategic perspective, that it was important for us to offer more opportunities to our young players by giving them the best possible chance of maximizing their potential,” SIG Managing Director Paul Campbell said. “We have been concerned with the number of Jamaican players who are not able to make a successful transition to professional football overseas due to the difficulty of adapting to the pace, physicality, and technical ability of those leagues. We feel that introducing the methodologies of those clubs, especially in Europe, to our Jamaican kids at an earlier age will lead to better adaptation in the future.”

The CA Osasuna camp will accommodate 80 players and consist of two sessions daily, each hosting 40 participants over the first four days. On the fifth and final day, players can impress coaches during two inter-squad games.

CA Osasuna Physical Conditioning department head Iokin Lobo Yeregui is excited about working with the Jamaican players.

“This football training camp is a good opportunity to develop the specific skills of the children, taking into account their age is important to taking advantage of the window of opportunity they have,” he said. “I think it will be successful as Jamaica is a special country to develop football and we are going to live this experience to the fullest.”

The camp, endorsed by the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association, will also serve as a talent identification opportunity for CA Osasuna.

There will also be a coaching education workshop component to the camp with 10 local coaches to be allowed to work with the Osasuna coaches over the five days.