Dutch coaches conduct clinics with Arima youth

The ambassador hosted a cocktail reception on June 8 for Arima All Stars club members and the visiting coaches from Sparta Rotterdam, the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands.

The youth coaches were here to hold several development clinics with the players and coaches from June 5-17.

All Stars’ president Charen Glasgow said the club’s philosophy is to promote the holistic development of young footballers.

The Sparta coaches’ visit was as a result of All Stars visiting Suriname and French Guyana for a football tournament in 2014.

They were so impressive that they were invited to the Netherlands in 2015 but could not make it.

The request came again in 2016 and the club made the trip.

Again, they impressed all around them and the coaching sessions were negotiated.

Simonis, who is also a physiotherapist said it is his first time in the West Indies and he liked what he saw in the youths from Arima.

He hopes the sessions will take them to a higher level and will like to see some of them at Sparta Rotterdam Football Club in the future.