In early March, Rush Soccer’s Director of International Affairs Tiago Calvano and Director of Coach & Player Development Davide Corti traveled to the Caribbean to connect again with Clube Atletico San Juan Rush in Puerto Rico as well as build relationships with clubs in St. Martin, Antigua and Barbuda.
Calvano and Corti’s experience in Puerto Rico can be found here.
During their time of sharing the Rush with clubs in St. Martin, the Rush Way created excitement and intrigue on the island. There is potential for the Rush Way to make headway there in the future!
The visits to Antigua and Barbuda created similar excitement, with the Federation interested in implementing a women’s league and coaching education program, all heavily influenced by the Rush Way Philosophy. Neil Cochrane, the former General Secretary of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) showed interest in transforming his own youth club into a Rush club, thereby allowing the youth to benefit from the opportunities Rush has to offer: College Advisory Program (CAP), Rush Select, Rush Fest, and many others. His club, F.C. Ashton Villa aka Villa Lions Academy, is now a partner club!
Rush Soccer is excited to partner with this club in Antigua. The Academy has approximately 115 members with an age range of 3.5 - 16 years old, and 30 players on the professional first team. The Academy has 4 coaches including the technical director, with Neil Cochrane and Sowerby Gomes leading the staff as General Secretary and Vice President, respectively.
Rush Soccer Director of International Affairs Tiago Calvano states:
“We are very excited and honored to be able to work with F.C. Aston Villa aka Villa Lions Soccer Academy, one of the most prestigious clubs in Antigua with serious and very capable people. We are looking forward to building this relationship and giving more opportunities to the players to help them improve on and off the field.”
Sowerby Gomes, from F.C. Ashton Villa aka Villa Lions Soccer Academy, adds:
“Just like Rush Soccer we at F.C. Aston Villa are extremely happy in forging this partnership, we recognize we speak the same language as it relates to:
Therefore, we are dedicated to harnessing the soccer talents of young individuals and combining these talents with academic excellence.
This is achieved through the Academy’s soccer program and scholarship drive. Our underlying principles remain those of hard work, discipline and dedication. As a result, we have seen a number of individuals come through the Academy and achieve successes both on and off the field.
We are proud of our accomplishments and will continue to provide a channel to assist with the development of the total man. With this partnership with Rush, it can only strengthen our base of providing greater opportunity for our young students.”
The Rush Way is making waves in the Caribbean with the sincere attention of growing coaches and players in the game with educational opportunities and access to robust programming found through the Rush Soccer system.
Additional updates and stories to come as the Rush grows in the Caribbean!