Above: the briefing at the Spanish Court hotel (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A group of 190 young footballers in Jamaica will play for the chance to train with Valencia Football Club in Spain this month, as part of the Next Generation Valencia Football Camp, which began today.

The programme, which takes place every year, caters to two age groups — seven to 11 and 12 to 17.

It is held at the University of Technology Football Stadium.

Two scholarship winners have been called back to train in Spain since the programme’s inception, and a third is currently living and training in Spain.

“It is important to have that passion being developed in ways where standards can be put in place and where youngsters can learn the game in the true technical sense, so that later on, they won’t have the bad habits [they would have] developed as youngsters,” said Sports Minister Natalie Neita-Headley.

Of the 190 spots, 20 were given by sponsor Scotiabank and 170 were purchased by the public at a cost of just under $174 USD.

“[The programme] is development of careers for young people and opportunities for them to go overseas and play, and for scouts to come here and look at what talents exist,” she said.

Juan Vicente Munoz de Morales da Silva, head coach of the Valencia Football Academy, said it was a privilege to help train young Jamaican footballers.

“For us, it’s an honour to come here and share all the football knowledge that we have,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to be here for the third time and we hope that it will be the beginning of a long relationship.”