Under the beautiful sunny weather, the Anguilla Football Association (AFA) field and annex came to life this week as a swam of youngsters, in their bright neon green shirts, descended upon the field of play for the annual football summer camp. The two-week camp kicked off on Monday July 11th, with a large turnout of youngsters and is hosted by the Anguilla Football Association, for youngsters 4-17 years. Like previous years, the camp is conducted in two sessions daily, with youngsters 4 to 11 years in the morning followed by the 12 to 17 year olds in the afternoon.
The camp focuses on exposing youngsters to the game of football, while at the same time introducing them to the basics of the game and helping them to develop new skills as well as improving their own unique skill sets, all while having fun.
During the first and second days of camp, the camp goers were given a rare treat, in that they were able to watch an exhibition practice match between the National U-15 girls and U-14 boys teams.
In preparation for their upcoming tournaments overseas, the national U15 girls and U14 boys team took to the main field at the Raymond E Guishard Stadium, where both teams were able to demonstrate the skills of the players and execute competitive game plans in both their attacking and defensive formation of play.
Camp goers in the stands remained actively engaged as they watched the game. They enthusiastically cheered, scream and shouted for both teams and players in the very competitive matchup.
The National u15 girls are scheduled to participate in the Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship tournament in Tampa Florida from July 31 to August 7. The tournament is divided into Leagues A, B and C where each league is comprised of team groups. As such, Anguilla is in League C Group B along with El Salvador, Nicaragua and Grenada.
In August, the boys will compete in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Boys’ U-14 Challenge Series scheduled for August 11-22 in the Dominican Republic. For this series, Anguilla is in Tier II, Group 4, along with the British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands and the US Virgin Islands.
– Contributed
