The Sandals Foundation is again demonstrating its commitment to youth and sports in the community, this time covering the tuition fees for 15 children to attend the Swalings Soccer Club year-long programme. The latest initiative comes on the heels of the successful Sandals Foundation Cricket Academy which wrapped up mid-August.
The scholarship recipients were chosen from various communities around Antigua with a special emphasis placed on finding those who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to attend a structured and certified sports programme.
Director of Swalings Soccer Duncan Swatton said sports has the potential to greatly improve children’s lives and should not be viewed as idle play.
“It’s not just the physical aspects but the social aspects too that grows. You can learn everything about life with a ball at your feet: commitment, fair play, winning and losing with grace, team work and discipline,” Swatton said.
He continued, “Sport opens up a world of opportunities it’s not all about just becoming a pro athlete, there are numerous jobs around sport such as a conditioning coaching, fitness coaching, physiotherapy and even an analyst, the list is endless. It can also give you an opportunity to see the world.”
Director of Programmes for the Sandals Foundation Heidi Clarke said the Foundation was pleased to be partnering with an organisation as reputable as Swalings.
“We hope, and we expect, that through participation in this programme the children whom we have sponsored will not just become more capable football players but also more capable citizens.”
Clarke said, while it would be wonderful if one of the Sandals Foundation-sponsored scholars was a diamond-in-the-rough who became a future football star, the goal is to develop and expose the young men who can in-turn positively impact their communities.
“The impact of team sports on someone’s life is well documented, from better grades to better physical and emotional health,” she said.
Swatton added Swalings was “thrilled” to be working with Sandals and the Sandals Foundation.
“Not every child will become a professional footballer, but every child is a member of society and if they can then go on and teach their friends and family the morals they have learned at Swalings football thanks to Sandals, then we really will have made an impact in their local communities,” Swatton said.
The 15 boys, ages 11 to 15, train on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and will play matches and tournaments on the weekend. Along with the coaching they will get a full football kit and will represent Swalings in any tournament and matches they participate in.
Swalings, established in Antigua since 2004, teaches children important life skills through swimming, football and their kids clubs. They teach hundreds of children weekly in an action-packed and safe environment for children of all ages.
