[xml][/xml]
The Bahamas Weekly Facebook The Bahamas Weekly Twitter
Sports Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Top job for Grand Bahama soccer camp pioneer
Jan 12, 2016 - 11:58:51 PM

Email this article
 Mobile friendly page

PhilFrench.JPG
Philip French with a young soccer player in Grand Bahama for the summer soccer camp (in 2007) which still run annually. The child's uniform came from from Blackburn Rovers (Photo: Robbin Whachell / TheBahamasWeekly.com)

Freeport, Bahamas - One of the hard-working architects of Grand Bahama’s famed annual soccer camps has been given a top job with the international Olympic movement.

Philip French, who at the time was major force at the English Premier League, ensured the first four camps were a major success and in the process touched the lives of hundreds of the island’s youngsters. He was also largely instrumental in a huge expansion of the playing area at Freeport Rugby and Football Club where the camp is held.

He has been head-hunted to become director of public affairs and social development through sport for the International Olympic Committee. His role, which he takes up on April 1, will include liaising with the United Nations and other bodies “in a bid to build a better world through sport,” according to the IOC.

His new role in Lausanne, Switzerland, will be a far cry from the early days of the soccer camp, now in its twelfth year, when he begged, borrowed and called in favours to convince former international soccer players to travel to Freeport to coach the children and EPL clubs to donate hundreds of uniforms in kids’ sizes for the campers, said camp organiser Derek Archer.

The names he attracted were legends, including Robbie Earle, who scored Jamaica’s first-ever World Cup goal and England’s Warren Barton, both now successful TV pundits, and star striker Luther Blissett.

Phil-English.jpg
Left to right: Jamie Godbold, the late Sir Jack Hayward, and Philip French during the Grand Bahama Summer Soccer Camp in 2008 (Photo: Robbin Whachell / TheBahamasWeekly.com)

When he was not helping the GB soccer camp French spent much of his time working on the early TV rights deals for the EPL which saw the league’s audience swell to billions each week, helping make it the most-watched sporting organisation in the world that it is today.

Five years ago he moved from soccer to another major sport – cricket, played by hundreds of millions worldwide. His role as director of international relations and public policy at the England and Wales Cricket Board saw him liaising with other leading countries in the sport.

In between he had been chief adviser on sport for the British government, with responsibilities ranging from grass roots activity to elite athlete funding for the Olympic Games in London in 2012. He is still involved in a number of grassroots and charity projects – reflecting the same interest he showed in the soccer camp.

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of $3.25 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

Its best known role is to select the host cities for the Olympic Games, and then work with the selected countries and cities during the run up to each event.

“This will be the ideal platform for a guy who has made it his business to work behind the scenes, not seeking any limelight, to make sport a success, and particularly to help those who are disadvantaged maximize their talent, sporting and otherwise,” said Archer.

“The Sir Jack Hayward Soccer Camps have been a major success since the first was held in 2004. The formula was set in the early days and Phil played a huge part in that. He still has a great interest in it and asks how it has gone each year. Much of the current success of the sport on the island, particularly the girls’ and the ladies side, is down to his contributions and we owe him a big debt.”


Bookmark and Share




© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com

Top of Page

Receive our Top Stories



Preview | Powered by CommandBlast

Sports
Latest Headlines
Middle Tennessee wins the Prime Minister's Cup at 2021 Bahamas Bowl
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture announces sports is back
Director of Sports Welcomes return of Gold-Medal-Winning Bodybuilding Team
Basketball Camp fosters more than talent with CWCO backing
Minister Lewis, Sports Director show up for Young Runners