Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz captain and shot stopper Andre Blake, will host a goalkeeping clinic at the UWI-Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, on December 14 and 15. The clinic will run from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.
This clinic will provide exceptional goalkeeper training to more than 24 youth goalkeepers selected from the top ISSA Manning Cup and daCosta Cup teams, and two female goalkeepers from Reinas Academy.
The goalkeepers will receive top-notch training led by the experienced Phil Wheddon, who also serves as Andre Blake’s goalkeeper coach at Philadelphia Union.
Wheddon is the only goalkeeper coach in United States history to have coached both the men’s and women’s national teams in a FIFA World Cup. He coached in three World Cups and won two Olympic gold medals with United States.
Other participating goalkeeper coaches include Jamaica Under-20 coach Andrew Sewell, national goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, Reinas Academy’s Neo Oxford and Kingston College’s Robert Beckford.
Blake, who will lead the Reggae Boyz into Concacaf Nations League semi-final action, as well as the CONMEBOL Copa America next year, explains the rationale behind the initiative.
“To whom much is given, much is required, and so this is my way of supporting the next generation of goalkeepers. I want to see what these goalkeepers look like and try to educate them on what it will take to get to the next level. Having Phil on board is great because he brings an extensive amount of knowledge and experience with him,” Blake shared.
Blake’s initiative is supported the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Sagicor Foundation, Spectrum Systems Limited, TruShake, Powerade, Courtyard Marriott, Leep Marketing, and UNL Sport.