His Excellency, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Carmona officially launched the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association Youth Football Clinics at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Monday morning.
President Carmona, who is also a patron of the TTFA, spoke in glowing terms of the efforts of the TTFA in putting on these clinics which is part of a collaboration with One World Futbol and Chevrolet.
At the launch it was announced that the TTFA will team up with Lifestyle Motors, Bmobile and BG T&T to conduct a series of coaching clinics commencing Saturday, January 25th in Blanchisseuse.
Dubbed the TTFA Youth Football Community Clinics,the program is the TTFA grassroots initiative designed to encourage boys and girls to play football in a fun, nurturing and non-competitive environment.
TTFA Technical director Anton Corneal and a team of local community coaches will oversee the program while Mrs Mary Siu Butt is the program’s chief coordinator.
Highlighting the 16-week grassroots program will be the distribution of close to 15,000 nearly indestructible footballs, arranged through initial discussions between ex-TTFA technical director Lincoln Phillips and Chevrolet and made by One World Futbol.
Each clinic will last 90 minutes and will target youths aged 6-12. The clinics will be organized in a circuit-type format and Shoreline communities will host the first set of youth clinics as the purpose is to address the most undeserved areas of Trinidad and Tobago and leave 10 balls with every primary school in the country at the conclusion of the program.
The TTFA also recognized the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Education for their part in this project and the principals of the various schools that will participate.
Also present at the launch was Lifestyle Motors Senior manager Marlon Garib who pledged his company’s commitment and support to the project.
Inspired by Refugee Youth
In 2006, One World Futbol inventor Tim Jahnigen was watching news footage about traumatized refugee youth in Darfur playing soccer on dirt using a ball they had made by tying trash together with twine. In that instant, Tim saw that these kids had such strong, indestructible spirits and felt they deserved better. He realized there was a global need for a nearly indestructible ball that could withstand the harsh conditions often faced by youth living in refugee camps, disaster areas and other disadvantaged communities.
With that spark of inspiration, the idea for the One World Futbol was born.
The Ball
The One World Futbol is a nearly indestructible ball that never needs a pump and never goes flat—even when punctured multiple times. Whether for use on the street, at the beach, at home or on the roughest landscapes in the world, the One World Futbol will last for years.
The One World Futbol enables players, organizations, adults and youth to:
Play Anywhere: The One World Futbol can survive the harshest of environments. It was designed with a lower bounce for recreational play on harder surfaces such as streets, rocky landscapes, schoolyards, dirt lots—but is great on grass and turf too.
Save Money and Resources: A single One World Futbol can outlast hundreds of regular balls, eliminating the waste of discarded, punctured soccer balls and the hassle of buying pumps and needles.
Help Youth around the World: Through our “Buy One, Give One” and “Give One” options, your purchase helps make a difference! For every ball you buy, we donate a second ball to organizations working with youth in disadvantaged communities worldwide.
Just Play: The One World Futbol is the same size and weight as a standard soccer ball, but it can also be used for netball, volleyball, and many other games. The ball comes in two sizes—an adult size 5 and a youth size 4.