Kirk Corbin & Tito Beckles at Arsenal FC

on August 6th, 2012 in News by The Brewster Trust

THE BREWSTER TRUST, Barbados

Kirk Corbin and Tito Beckles have been awarded most outstanding participants “Coaching the coaches” at the Holiday Camp 2011. The two local coaches got an invitation to the Arsenal Gap Year programme 2012/2013 for one month including accommodation in England as well as travel cost. Their programme started on Tuesday, 7th August 2012 and they arrived back in Barbados on Saturday, 1st September 2012. Here we collected the impressions Kirk and Tito sent us from London:

Departure
1st August 2012, 4.40pm, BA2154 with an arrival at Gatwick the next day at 5.45am. Kirk stated before he left Barbados: “This is a tremendous opportunity.”

Report 1 (2nd August 2012)
We have arrived safely and without any problems. The flight was great, there were no problems at all. Darren was on time and got us to Chester House safely. We got through with accommodation and everything is good so far. We stopped by Arsenal’s office on the way to Chester House. Thanks again for everything and we will contact you later. Tell the guys at camp we said hello.
Tito added: “Just want to say thank you for giving me this chance to come to this wonderful country. I’m enjoying how everything is going so far.”

Report 2 (6th August 2012)
Greetings. We start from tomorrow, met John today after we went down to the office today. We nonetheless got to visit the Arsenal Museum, which was a great experience. We were a little concerned about getting there at first, but the route will take some time getting used to. On Sunday evening, we met some of the other Gappers, and we travelled with them since one of the guys was a little familiar with the area. There are about nine of us now and we are getting along fairly well. We are still excited about tomorrow, can’t wait to start. We will let you know how it went.

Report 3 (10th August 2012)
Tito wrote: “I’m really enjoying myself in the UK. The first week was amazing, really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward for the up coming weeks.” Kirk will give us a review of the first week soon. He wrote: “We did tour the stadium and museum and I took a few pictures.”

Report 4 (13th August 2012)
Kirk’s summary of the first week: “After arriving Tito and myself had the remainder of the week to settle in and get ready for the Introductory Phase of the Gappers Programme. Guy Chester House, where we are staying, is a very good accomodation and the staff have been friendly and co-operative. We can truly say we have been taken care of in that respect. With the programme starting at the beginning of the next week we were eager to get started. The remainder of the Gappers staying at Chester House arrived during the weekend, and quickly got acquainted. I’m pretty much the old man in the group but I don’t mind. There are about ten of us here, and we usually leave and return together.
Monday wasn’t the official start of the program, but we met at the Arsenal in the Community office with most of the other Gappers and John took us to the museum. It was a fantastic experience. The travelling to and from the Emirates will take getting used to, as it took a while for us to find it at first. We will be starting the following day, and the anticipation continued to build. Just can’t wait. The programme got under way on Tuesday, with an introductory session led by John at the Emirates. We did some ice-breaking activities to get to know about each other. There are approximately 28 of us here, from all over the world, which makes it more special with us coming from tiny Barbados. It will aslo be great to learn from and exchange ideas with people with various footballing backgrounds. The key will be open-mindedness and respect for other people’s culture. We also given a brief overview of the Gappers Programme and what is expected of us while we were there as well as afterwards, especially for those who will be staying for the entire programme. I have a lot of respect for the club and The Brewster Trust during the camps and clinics back in Barbados, but i gained even more when I saw the work they were doing and how expansive the programme is since it goes beyond football. It gives me something to think about for when I return in terms of what contribution I want to make to football and sports. John left us with a few quotes, but one which will definitely stay with me is from former South African President, Nelson Mandela, which I have always believed: “Sport has the power to change the world, the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else can; sport can create hope, it is an instrument for peace.”
We got to tour the Emirates during the week, and it was one of the greatest experiences in our lives. How else can this be explained by two Barbadians, from the Pine community, seeing a world-class stadium, sitting where Robin Van Persie sits in the changing room, where Arsene Wenger sits on the bench, and where the billionaires mingle in the Diamond Suite? Since we got here Tito and I have been busy with our cameras and some of our fellow Gappers poke fun at it, all in good fun of course. Maybe they can’t fathom that we don’t get to see things like this where we come from, unlike they do, but maybe if they get to come to Barbados to do their part of the programme they would understand. We got started with the coaches’ education part of the programme, at Rosemary Gardens. It was a little challenging at first. At 34, I am probably the oldest person here, as many of the participants are fresh out of college or university, and as young as seventeen!!! This makes my two years with The Brewster Trust all the more beneficial, since that would have prepared me physically and mentally for this month. Another segment of coaches’ education was the classroom sessions on Health and Safety with Alan Sefton which were very useful. Here we worked in groups and it was good to share our experiences. We finally came to the end of week 1 and I will enjoy the rest period.”

Report 5 (19th August 2012)
Monday – Friday: Training continued and everything is going great. The classroom sessions are also going well. We have been asked a lot about Barbados and it seems you may have many Gappers wanting to go there next year, so don’t be surprised. Everyone seems to like the atmosphere within the Chester House group and some have been asking about Chester House as well. Maybe the Barbados Tourism Authority and Chester House should be paying us for promoting them!!! Lol We also got an introduction to the work of the Double Club, which is very interesting and shed some light as to the type of work professional clubs put in off the field, in the community, besides football-related projects. We got our tickets to the Arsenal-Sunderland match and are excited at getting to watch our first professional match – an English Premier league game. I have been guarding the tickets with my life. Next week will be FA Level One course, so we are also anxious about that.
Saturday: We watched the Arsenal-Sunderland match and it was everything we expected and more!!! From seeing the thousands pour into the stadium, wearing their team’s colours, to the warm ups and the crowd chanting and singing, and the match itself, it was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. We sat behind the goal at the Clock End, so that was special as well, seeing the players up close and dodging wayward balls coming into crowd. Diaby and Mertesacker are giants!!! Unfortunately we didnt get to see a goal, but nonetheless we left more than satisfied. It doesn’t matter which club you support, getting to watch a professional game is the experience of a lifetime!!

Report 6 (25th August 2012)
Week 3: Certified! That was the buzzword for this third week here in London, as we completed the FA Level One Coaching Course and became qualified coaches. Words cannot begin to describe the feeling as we enjoyed every moment of the course, under the supervision of Instructor Matt Tallon. Matt was brilliant from the opening day, and his knowledge, delivery and several great stories kept us attentive and involved. Once again thanks to Axel and The Brewster Trust for making this possible, and there are several others who I would like to thank but I would probably sound like an artiste giving a speech after winning a Grammy. On Monday and Saturday, we got to watch the Arsenal Under 21s play, against Bolton and Blackburn U21s respectively. Despite them not being a Premier League matches, they still drew crowds of over 5 000 each time, and the passion was still there from the crowds. Didn’t know they used to boo and heckle opposing players at youth matches too (lol)! I like to watch teams warming up, it kind of shows you how the team is approaching the game, and for Arsenal, they do the same thing their seniors do, which is why they play the way they do. Needless to say, they were comfortable winners each time, and there are some players which caught the eye. Captain and centre-back Ignasi Miguel, who is confident on the ball, reads the game well and hardly ever panics, is one such player. We are on the homestretch of our visit so its going to be a busy week.

Report 7 (2nd September 2012)

Wow! Time really flew! Our last week zipped by and before we knew it, we were back in the Caribbean heat, and man is it hot back in Barbados!! Tito and I were busy trying to get our last taste of London, taking photos whenever and wherever we could, going through our final part of the Gappers Introductory programme and of course, trying to get some rest!!

Monday
Monday was a bank holiday, and Notting Hill Carnival Day. I got a chance to briefly take in some of the atmosphere, and while it was the first time in my life that I was not in Barbados on Kadooment Day, it felt a bit like I was back home. We had been talking to our fellow Gappers all about our festival, so some of them also got to experience the culture. The little bit of the Carnival I witnessed didn’t differ that much from Kadooment, it was just bigger and took on more of a Caribbean feel, instead of just Barbadian. And it definitely filled me with pride to hear the music of Hypa Dawg, Allison Hinds, Iwer George, etc blaring from the trucks. I also used the long weekend to catch up with relatives, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years, and some I had never met.

Tuesday-Friday
Our final sessions involved closer looks at the involvement of the Arsenal Community in other programmes and projects. What this did was show us the socially responsible side of professional football clubs, who do many things behind the scenes, working along side other organisations and instituions helping in the community. The sessions were all conducted by former Gappers, which was particularly interesting since it showed us how the Gappers programme not only provided opportunities in coaching, but developed very rewarding non-coaching career paths as well. Furthermore, it showed how rewarding involvement in sports can be. On the field, the week was made a little harder because of the mixed emotions as our final day drew nearer. We had made many friends, and one of the strengths of this group of Gappers is the unity and chemistry within the group. I have witnessed several times in my life several situations where groups become competitive and divided as individuals look out for their own interests. However, this has not been the case with our group. They really made us feel special and welcome, even asking us to stay. If any of them are reading this blog I want to thank them and wish them all the best in their future endeavours. To the gang at Chester House, what can we say, we had a ball!!!! It’s back to life in Barbados, but I think this experience has had and will have a tremendous impact on our lives. It has definitely been eye-opening. To Axel and The Brewster Trust, thank you very much for making this great experience a reality.

Arrival & welcome back

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On 1st September 2012, 3.10pm, Kirk – it was his birthday – and Tito arrived safely in Barbados with BA2155 and immediately shared their impression with the welcome delegation at the airport.

We are all excited to see how Kirk and Tito share their new qualification and experience within the Barbados Football Family. Well done & keep the passion.

Impressions from the trip & the programme: