American-based coach Allan Greaves believes the Caribbean will become the next nursery for young prospects as the football world continues to look for gifted players to play at the pro level.
Barbadian-born Greaves expressed the sentiment after being impressed by the ever improving skills of the children at the Pro-Shottas Summer Camp at the Brewery yesterday.
“I know from an athletic standpoint that the talent is here [in the Caribbean]; it’s just about working on the technical aspect of the game,” said Greaves.
“So over the last 15 years, I thought that the next vein of talent is coming out of the Caribbean. At least here in Barbados, one thing that I have seen is that there are a lot more younger, skilful players.”
An FA [England Football Association] international A licence coach, Greaves has been instrumental in attaining collegiate scholarships for at least six Pro-Shottas players after being involved in the club’s camp for the last ten years.
And he’s seen a significant rise in skilled young players over that decade, having already identified at least two footballers that have great potential to play at the next level.
“The talent and the technical abilities of the younger players now are a lot better than what they were when I first started coming here, and we’re talking about six-, seven-, eight-year-olds,” he said.
“And that’s great as I mainly want to focus on the technical part of the game because you want the kids to be comfortable dribbling the ball, shooting the ball and passing . . . .
“But their future also depends upon on how much they want to take the opportunities that are available.”
Pro-Shottas director Greg Castagne said the relationship between Greaves and the club was a perfect fit as the coach was Barbadian-born and extremely qualified to teach the international game to his young players.
“The main thing he makes them aware of is to play with more intensity,” said Castagne.
“We in the Caribbean tend to play a little too slowly and make decisions too slowly. But with him we find our players also become a lot more aware positionally, and better understand what their role is. Then their movement off the ball really improves.”
The camp comes on the heels of the club’s tour of Cleveland last month.
