Emerging footballers Raheim Sargeant and Ricardio Morris left yesterday for England for trials with Scottish Premier League team Dundee United FC.
Dundee will host a soccer camp in London which Sargeant and Morris, who recently enrolled in the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme after playing youth soccer with new Division 2 champions Kick Start, will attend during their ten-day tour.
The two players are also due to have a trial with English First Division side Marcombe.
“This was in the pipeline before they came into the army but is something which the BDF is all about, providing opportunities for our young footballers,” BDF’s coach Asquith Howell told NATIONSPORT.
BDF’s Director of Sports Michael Jules was also delighted for the new army recruits.
“The arrangements were made for the boys through their youth club, Kick Start, and we thank them. It is an opportunity which can open many doors in the areas of professional football.
“If the boys step up to the plate and show their class, our football will get a boost because the coaches may wonder if there aren’t more talented footballers in Barbados.
“We (BDF) are planning to explore the possibility of scholarships in the United States and through the World Military Sports Council, where they can have the opportunity to go to Brazil for stints.”
Both Sargeant, a 20-year-old midfielder, and central defender Morris, 19, have played in friendly internationals for the national senior team after rising through the junior ranks.?They said they were targeting professional contracts.
While elated at getting the opportunity for trials in England, Sargeant said he was confident their new local side, BDF, would defeat defending champions Weymouth Wales in the KFC?Knockout Cup on Sunday.
“They played the entire season without us, since we only turned out from the quarter-finals,” Sargeant noted. “So I am confident that the team will perform well without us.”
Meanwhile, the triumphant Barbados Soccer Academy’s Under-13 team left for a 16-day tour of Canada last weekend to play a series of matches in Toronto.
The team, captained by Ronaldo Bowen, of Queen’s College, is managed by Kathy Carter with Emmerson Haynes as coach.
