Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

(From left) FIFA vice-president Austin 'Jack' Warner, Digicel's head of sponsorship Kieran Foley, Jamaican-born former England winger John Barnes and Colin Klass, president of the Guyana Football Federation, look on during the launch of the Digicel Kick Start Clinic at the Pegasus hotel in Guyana last Saturday. - Contributed

GEORGETOWN, Guyana:

FIFA vice-president, Austin 'Jack' Warner, had nothing but high praises for wireless phone giants Digicel, following the launch of their latest initiative - the Digicel Kick Start Clinics - which will see youngsters from around the region take part in a six-week course headed by fabled Jamaican-born England and Liverpool football legend John Barnes.

"Far too often sponsors aim only for the top, the crème de la crème, national teams, Gold Cup. I'm particularly pleased to see Digicel's investment in youth football," Warner said at the launch of the event at The Pegasus hotel in Guyana last Saturday.

"They are the future of Caribbean football, they have demonstrated that they are not just sponsors but partners in developing the game in the region," he added.

Eight countries - Guyana, Haiti, Barbados, St. Kitts, Antigua, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, will field players from the under-20 age category to take part in the series of clinics which kicked off in Guyana yesterday, and will end in Jamaica on Saturday, February 16.

Each camp will last three days. after a brief motivational talk, Barnes will coach a national under-20 select team for the first two days. On the third day, the squad will take on a local under-20 squad selected by the public via text messaging to Digicel.

At the end of the clinics and conference with the relevant coaches, six players from the regional crop will be chosen to take part in a one-week training session with English Premier League club Sunderland.

Sunderland, which is currently home to both Jamaican international Nyron Nosworhty and Trinidad and Tobago international Dwight Yorke, gained promotion to the top flight last season, but are currently in 18th place, have found the going in the top flight tough.

Great prospects

According to Digicel's head of sponsorship, Kieran Foley, the idea of the clinics came to life based on the enthusiasm shown by young players who took part in camps ahead of last summer's largely successful Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament and he is confident it will go a long way in unearthing regional talent.

"When we spoke to Sunderland manager Mr. Noel Quinn, he was delighted to get on-board. It's great to have a partnership with a Premier League team because it allows to show the significance of the development of Caribbean football," he said.

"We appreciate how far it can go and we are not the only ones, there is a definite understanding of the quality of football in the Caribbean," Foley added.

Warner, who is also president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), said that the company's input has far-reaching effects in terms of directly developing the sport by means of social intervention.

"You can say what you want, football is the world's greatest sport and Digicel, having found a niche market here in the Caribbean, have been invaluable because they have been willing to work from the grass roots," he said.

"The opposite of hope is despair, I believe the opposite of crime is football," he added.