On Friday 2nd June, 2023 the Anguilla Football Association (AFA) and CONCACAF celebrated their partnership and implementation of Generation Amazing, a youth football programme, catering particularly to Anguilla’s primary school football enthusiasts.
Representatives from CONCACAF, Miami, were in attendance for the introduction of the Generation Amazing programme. The event was hosted by AFA’s President, Girdon Connor and the Honourable Minister of Social Development, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers.
The Generation Amazing, programme is intended for children aged eight to twelve and is designed to not only coach students in the game of football, but it also teaches students life-skills and values such as discipline and self-confidence.
“We believe that football is the greatest sport in the world and that it can have a transformative effect on young people and communities,” Jason Roberts, CONCACAF’s Director of Development said. He explained that Generation Amazing relies heavily on the training of those willing to coach the young athletes in the programme. There is also a safeguarding aspect to the programme that allows the student athletes to feel secure in their environment.
“With the training package that we have at Generation Amazing, we don’t just focus on the ball, we focus on the passing of the ball in a way that we can achieve those core values that we believe in at CONCACAF,” Mr. Roberts said.
At the press conference on Friday 2nd June, the Honourable Sports Minister Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers provided her perspective as Minister of Social Development and as a former athlete.
She admitted that she learned some of her most valuable life lessons through sports. “That isn’t to say that I am diminishing the power of education in the classroom, but it is to say that there are specific values that sports allow students to take into their lives,” Minister Kentish-Rogers said.
Prior to Friday’s launch of Generation Amazing, Minister Kentish-Rogers had hosted the CONCACAF team in visits to multiple primary schools so they could see and meet directly with the youngsters whom their partnership will impact.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Mr. Roberts said, as he reflected on the time he and his colleagues spent with the students and teachers. “We were in a position to give something to them, but they also gave something to us. They totally energized us.”
Anguilla joins with nine other locations in the first cohort of countries that are introducing Generation Amazing to their students.
Written By Alexis Rogers
