(ZIZ News) — The St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association has donated football gear to the government’s pre-schools, in an effort to foster the love of football among students.
The presentation took place during a ceremony at Football House on Friday morning.
SKNFA Technical Director, Lenny Lake said while the Grassroots Programme normally targets children 6-12 years old, they also want to reach very young children.
“We have to make sure that they don’t wait until Primary School to start to like to play football. We want to be able to say to them you can kick a ball, and have fun, like any child in Primary School and enjoy the game. It’s not about teaching, at this age, the skills, but bringing a smile to the face,” he said.
He added that playing football brings health benefits for the children.
“We believe that if a lot of children start very early in doing a lot of physical activity then we would have in future reduced the number of people who are overweight. And of course in turn have a healthy future. So we wanna start early with the children, we wanna give them a chance to play,” he said.
Resource Teacher in the Government’s Preschool Department Andrea Liddie, thanked the SKNFA for the donation and noted that it would be a big help in their Physical Development Programme.
“In our daily routine children spend 45 minutes outdoors developing their large motor skills and part of our curriculum, Physical Development and Health, is very much a part of it. So I know that this will go a very long way in having this donation,” she said.
The kits comprised of various sizes and types of footballs; bibs; a catalogue of scientifically proven exercises; a DVD on techniques and rules of the game and a book on various topics such as training and health.
Meanwhile, primary schools on Nevis were the recipients of football gear on Wednesday.
In a brief presentation ceremony, Technical Director of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association, Lenny Lake, handed over the gear to various coaches from the island’s primary schools.
Lake indicated that the equipment was provided by the governing body of football, FIFA, which is interested in seeing the game develop worldwide and is intent on getting as many children as possible playing the game.
He urged the primary school footballers present to encourage their classmates and friends to get involved in playing the game of football.