Inter Miami host clinic with Ballaz
Published:Friday | March 14, 2025 | 12:07 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
WHILE MESSI Mania has been sweeping across Jamaica with the arrival of Argentine football icon Lionel Messi on Wednesday, his club, Inter Miami, hosted their Royal Caribbean International Youth Clinic with Ballaz Academy yesterday at Liberty Park.
Forty young players from Ballaz Academy got the opportunity to showcase their talents during a training session under the watchful eyes of coaches from Inter Miami and Ballaz Academy.
Camilla Jocelyn-Holt, director of community engagement at Inter Miami, said the initiative is an extension of their youth-development programmes through their sponsors, Royal Caribbean.
“Our youth clinic is one of our most-loved events that we host back in Miami at our Florida training facility, but we had the opportunity to partner with one of the most incredible partners, Royal Caribbean,” she explained.
“They are such a massive international brand that we decided to launch our youth clinics internationally. Being that we play in Jamaica tonight, we thought, what better of an idea to bring two of our academy coaches and our incredible staff to come out and work with Ballaz Academy to put together an amazing event for 40 of their academy kids.”
Leading the training session was Diego Garcia, Inter Miami’s academy head coach, who spoke positively about the players’ performance and attitude throughout the clinic.
Garcia said he was pleased with the visit and enjoyed sharing their training methods with Ballaz Academy.
“We are here with an international training with Inter Miami and Royal Caribbean and we are really pleasured to share our knowledge here in Jamaica. We have seen some really nice talent here in the training and the kids have shown really good behaviour, performance, and attitude,” Garcia told The Gleaner.
“They have some really nice values like teamwork, cooperation, and we’re really happy to be here to and share some of the Inter Miami methods with the Jamaican players,” he continued.
Andre Virtue, director of Ballaz Academy, welcomed the visit, which he described as a grand opportunity for both the academy and its players.
He believes the presence of the Inter Miami staff has helped his players believe that their football aspirations are within reach.
“It is great because we want our players to dream big, and we want them to think that there is no limitations for them,” Virtue said after the clinic.
“To have the coaches from Inter Miami here in Jamaica is a big deal and mostly importantly, for these young payers, it is for them to take the experience from these coaches and help to build on their development.”