-       England and Liverpool football legend, John Barnes, will spend three days coaching over 150 aspiring young footballers for a place in the Digicel Academy

Monday, September 19^th 2011 – Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Digicel today officially kicked off the first leg of the Digicel Kick Start Clinics 2011 at a press conference featuring Head Coach and England and Liverpool football legend, John Barnes, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

During the press conference, John Barnes revealed plans for the three day coaching clinic in which over 150 aspiring young Haitian footballers will be coached in the beautiful game. Following the three day Clinic, Barnes will then select the top four players who will win a place in the Digicel Academy, a week-long elite training camp under the leadership of top Barclays Premier League coaches from the Sunderland Academy, assisted by John Barnes taking place in Trinidad.

Digicel Kick Start Clinics Head Coach, John Barnes, said; “I am really excited to be back for another year as Head Coach of the Digicel Kick Start Clinics – the Road to the Academy. The DKSC are a fantastic grass roots initiative which over the past years have seen some fantastic talent come through – and in the long term, these types of initiatives will go towards producing home grown players who are good enough to cut it at the top level.

“In addition, I am particularly excited about this year’s introduction of the Digicel Academy which will host the “crème de la crème” of Haiti’s talent – along with other young footballers from around the region – where they will receive expert coaching in the sport they love,” continued Barnes.  

The players selected to go through to the elite Digicel Academy will spend a week developing their skills and technical ability as well as learning valuable life skills such as personal discipline and commitment – all through positive reinforcement, fostering an appreciation of soccer's intrinsic values.

In addition to the Clinics selection process, a wild card will be chosen from each market for the ‘best striker’, giving even more aspiring young footballers the chance to fulfill their dreams. 

The Digicel Academy will also host a ‘coach the coaches’ seminar in which coaches from across the region will get expert training from Sunderland AFC’s finest teachers.

The Digicel Kick Start Clinics programme officially kicked off on Sunday 18^th September in Haiti before travelling on to Panama, New York, St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, Suriname, Jamaica and Trinidad and culminating in a week long training session at the Digicel Academy (also in Trinidad) from Tuesday November 1^st to Monday November 7^th.

For more information, visit www.digicelfootball.com 

ENDS

THE ROAD TO THE ACADEMY TIMELINE

ABOUT DIGICEL GROUP

After ten years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has 11.5 million customers across its 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.

Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.

Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.

In 2004, Digicel developed Digicel Rising Stars – an annual talent show to support aspiring young music artists in the Caribbean. The show has spanned the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago ranking as one of the top-rated shows.

Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and its markets comprise: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. Digicel also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean.

Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.