Photo by Claudia Gardner
Rusea's High School centre-half Marvin Hill (left) takes campers through the basic skills of football during the Hanover Parish Development Committee's Summer Enrichment Football Camp, which was held at Rusea's.

Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

Lucea, Hanover:

Close to 100 boys from across Hanover spent a large portion of the summer honing their football skills at the Hanover Parish Development Committee's Summer Enrichment Football Camp.

The camp, which commenced on July 28 and had its last two days disrupted by Tropical Storm Gustav yesterday and Thursday, is a first for the parish and was staged at Rusea's High School in Lucea.

Many of the boys, who are between the ages of six and 14, are among Hanover's most marginalised and a vast percentage came from the parish's poorest communities.

Objectives

Among the objectives of the camp are the improvement of discipline and skills, the opportunity to build self-esteem, problem-solving, leadership development and foster team building skills, enhance team participation, discipline and camaraderie among the youngsters, as well as to develop basic and advanced football skills.

"I would be walking up and down all over the place if I did not get to come to this camp," said one of the campers, 14-year-old Mark Lawrence, who is a student of Hopewell High.

He added, "I would run up and down and ride bicycle on the road because I would have nothing else to do in the holidays. My father is very happy because he knows I am no longer idling on the road."

Another camper, eight-year-old Javar James, who is a student of the Esher Primary, said he was happy for the time spent at what was his first summer camp.

"I like the people who are at the camp. I learn how to play and how to juggle and I could not do that before. I could only do one, now I can do more than that. I have learnt how to volley and to dribble and I could not do that before. I am happy for the camp because before it started I was at home all day," noted James.

Funding

The camp was partially funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, GraceKennedy, Hanover Charities, Rusea's High, Hanover Sports Council and other community contributions.

In addition to the younger boys, 15 footballers of the Rusea's High daCosta Cup squad also served as counsellors on the camp, where they provided training and mentorship.

Former national footballer and Jamaica Defence Force Football team captain, Horace 'Cement Kid' Samuels, and Trevor Craig, were among the coaches at the camp.