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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Manchester City Seychelles soccer school 2013-Young children come out in force |06 May 2013

Manchester City Seychelles soccer school 2013-Young children come out in force

Group photo of young footballers and officials

Eighty children, aged seven to nine years old, attended the first of six clinics to take place over the three days.

Parents and spectators looked on from the sidelines as the young children took tips from the coaches who work with the Premier League giants.

This initiative is part of the clubs’ ‘City in the Community’ scheme, which according to the club’s website is now in its 26th year and aims at getting young people involved in football so as to reduce the number of people suffering the effects of health issues, social deprivation and other issues such as substance abuse.

The City youth coaches who led Saturday morning’s clinic included Mark Burton, Stephen Everall, Lee Kelly and Daniel Landstrom.

Vieira watches the young children in action

Cramer Ball, Air Seychelles chief executive, said: “This has been an exciting day and I have been hugely impressed by the children’s enthusiasm in the clinics. We are proud to see how many parents and spectators came to the Unity stadium (Stad Linite) to support the clinics and cheer on the children, a clear indication of the importance of football in Seychelles.”

Seychelles Football Federation chairman Elvis Chetty said "watching the kids go through their routine on the field is a joy. They are, after all, the future Seychelles national team. I must thank the MCFC coaches for their time and effort. SFF will continue to invest in the country's youth.”

Patrick Vieira, who is now the MCFC football development executive, said: “I am absolutely happy to be here in Seychelles and it was an honour for me to join in these first two clinics today (Saturday). Seeing the excitement on the faces of the young Seychellois boys and girls brought me back memories of my childhood when I first discovered football. I hope that I have made a difference in the lives of those kids today. It was a fantastic day and I am looking forward to the other clinics.”

He also pointed out that this is the first step of a big project where the football club is expected to continue aiding the development of the sport in Seychelles. He noted that though the population is small, the quality of the young players is very good.

This initiative shows the continuous effort of the SFF to help boost the young local talents in the country and help secure a good future for Seychelles football.

Manchester City Seychelles soccer school 2013 is hosted by Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways.
Yesterday, the coaches went to Praslin to run clinics and they will be at Stad Linite again today.

S. N.

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