WITH the high costs of education these days, many parents and students are caught between an empty wallet and a hard place. That is why the Free Kick Foundation is now giving fourteen young Saint Lucian students footballers the opportunity to further their education.
The female recipients are ShaunashaPrevot, Lyla Lionel and Claudia Constantine (Essex College, New Jersey).
The male recipients are Keeroy Lionel (Essex College, New Jersey); Nangee Phillip (Louisiana State University), Ethan Joseph, Janzani Henry, Trysan St. Louis, YodFevrier and Cassius Jones (Concordia College, Alabama); JovelTobierre and Aaron Richard (University of South Carolina, Aiken, South Carolina); Azzah Daniel (Mercer College, New Jersey).
The announcement was made on Monday at the Saint Lucia Football Association’s headquarters in La Clery, that the three girls and eleven boys will also represent their respective universities when called upon.
Six Dominicans who were part of the training process at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground also received scholarships. They are: Andrez Joseph, Alijah Titer, Gylles Mitchel, Fitz Jolly, Romelcia Phillip and Montell James.
Four of the local male student athletes are currently in Grenada representing Saint Lucia at the Windward Islands senior men’s football tournament. The other students, accompanied by their parents, were on hand on Monday to receive their University jerseys and important documents.
While he addressed the gathering, Free Kick Foundation CEO, Aaron King, said it was about recognizing the student athletes whose lives will be changed forever.
“Most times, we get on really hard on our young people for the mistakes they have made,” he said. “Today is a good opportunity to say ‘good job’ to them and ‘you did well’. Nobody is coming out here and handing Saint Lucians scholarships; they all competed against student athletes from South America, Europe and Australia.”
Permanent Secretary in the Department of Youth Development and Sports, Donavan Williams,said that while students are lauded for their efforts, “often times we like to focus on the negatives as opposed to speak about the positives.”
“You are actually going to be pioneers, because you are first in the group to be recipients of this. A lot of eyes are going to be on you. There will be individuals who will want you to fail, but you have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, SLFA Technical Director, Cess Podd, who has worked with most of the students, said he was pleased that local football had gotten to this stage and that “it’s something we cannot do without.”
