Over 300 footballers from across the island convened at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Sunday, August 11, to participate in the first Player Empowerment Workshop series for competing players in The Prime Minister’s Cup 2024.
The sessions, which form part of the vision outlined by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, will continue throughout the tournament, which is scheduled to start on August 26.
According to member of the organising committee, Seth Carrington-Skeete, the tournament is in line with the holistic development of young people of Barbados.
“It is the Prime Minister’s vision that this tournament is about more than football. The idea of the tournament is to leave a legacy for growth, self-actualisation, and individual empowerment with the hope that we are all better citizens at the end of the tournament,” he stated.
The Player Empowerment Workshops will cover a variety of topics, including but not limited to: Citizenship, Conflict Resolution, Entrepreneurship, Mental Health, Physical Fitness, Setting and Achieving Goals, and Workplace Etiquette.
The facilitators for the inaugural session were Capacity Building Advisor, Amanda James; General Manager of Shine Automotive, Dario Greenidge, and Managing Director of Gainzville Fitness, Frank Parris.
Mr. Greenidge commented that he was impressed by the young audience and the attention they paid to him as he highlighted the challenges and successes of starting a business.
“I think it went well. They were listening and I think it is going to be an interesting tournament with a good mixture of young people of different ages and stages of life. It will be good to see them come together on the field of play and achieve that common goal.
“As a young person myself I know it’s tough out there just to exist; so, for me any opportunity I get to encourage people and help them do better I appreciate,” he said.
In her sessions, Ms. James dealt with aspects of empowerment and self-motivation.
“It was really nice and very interactive. The players shared some really good views. The main message to them was to empower yourself as an individual. I have always said that footballers have a range of skill sets that often non-footballers may not have such as critical thinking, mathematical knowledge, collaboration and teamwork, just to highlight a few,” she maintained.
The health of the body and importance of training properly was the focus of the sessions conducted by Mr. Parris and left a lasting impression on the budding football stars.
“What I found was that a lot of them were not aware of what was required of them to be successful in the sport. I can see they have a passion for it, but they don’t understand that there is a lot more to what they do to make them the best.
Nutrition plays a major role in how they perform, so the requirement of eating right changes their activity in a big way. I am hopeful they would have absorbed some of what I have said today and implement it into their regime,” he stated.