Liverpool Football Club to open academy in SVG

in the UK.

Vincentians youngsters who dream of playing professional football may soon be one step closer to that goal, thanks to the Buccament Beach Resort.{{more}}

Liverpool Football Club has signaled its intention to open its first Caribbean football academy at the resort. The academy is just one of the sporting ventures which will be part of Harlequin Resorts ventures in St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The announcement of the establishment of the academy was made at the official launch of the resorts earlier this week in England. At the gala two-day event held on July 13th and 14th at the Grove Luxury Resort, Watford, Chairman of Harlequin, Dave Ames announced the exciting partnerships which his company has forged with entities like Liverpool FC, golfing legend Gary Player and former tennis champion Pat Cash.

Liverpool’s Director of International Business Development Jonathan Kane said that Liverpool is prepared to invest a great deal of its resources in this academy.

He said that in addition to facilities which will play host to various Liverpool academy teams in the future, Kane said that the club will also be sending coaches to the island to work with local prospects.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that while scouting for talent isn’t the primary focus of the academy, it has the potential to be a feeding agency of the best talent available to the club.

In 2008, the 207 year old club was named by Forbes Business Magazine as the fourth most valuable football club in the world, valued at US$1 billion.

Meanwhile, Cash said that when he visited St Vincent recently, and when he went through the region, he spotted a fair amount of talented, young tennis players.

Cash, who won the Wimbledon Tennis championship in 1987, said that he is looking forward to “bringing some high quality coaching” to the tennis academies, both at Buccament and the other at the Harlequin project in St Lucia.

He said that the vision of the programme is to be able to meet the needs of guests, while investing in local youngsters who want to learn the game.

He also said that exhibition matches involving past superstars like Andre Agassi and Matt Wilander will also be a feature of the tennis programme at the resort.

As for Player, when he addressed journalists at a press conference last Monday, July 13th, he showed how sports and tourism go hand in hand.

The South African golf legend, who won 18 Majors during his long career, made particular mention of his sport: “the rich people play golf.”

According to Player, who has partnered with Harlequin to develop the Marquis Estate and Championship Golf Course in St Lucia, once people come to a resort to play golf, they are sure to spend money. He said that the key is that when they spend money, it will create wealth, provide jobs, and give more opportunities for development for the local population.

The Marquis Estate, which is a massive project featuring two hotels, villas, a horseback riding trail in addition to Gary Player’s golf course, is expected to be completed by 2015.

The first phase of the Buccament Resort will be opened by July next year.