IZAGUIRRE DOING IT FOR THE KIDS
Honduran’s Celtic-inspired academy takes youth off street
HE learned different methods from Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon and Ronny Deila. And Emilio Izaguirre hopes to emulate each of their best traits as a coach in his own academy.
Academia Celtic FC was set up by the former Celtic defender to help youngsters in Honduras stay safe and off the streets, away from a life of crime and drugs which tragically steals the lives from countless teens every day.
One of the lucky ones himself, Izaguirre wants to use his name and the success he earned at Parkhead to ultimately save lives by taking young, lost men and turning them into footballers. His compassion is clear to see, as is his continued love for his former club.
Even during his time as a Celtic player, Izaguirre would often head back home with old, used Celtic kits supplied by the Glasgow giants. Jerseys and training gear that, while they may be ‘out of date’ or worn out over in our privileged country, are brand new to others. The Central American has always been grateful for Celtic’s generosity. It is one of the reasons he has dedicated his academy to the club, somewhat – in name at least.
“I want to help loads of kids, that’s my wish,” he insists. “Because my country has had lots of unfortunate moments. Kids fall into situations that lead them to act like delinquents.
Not that they are delinquents as people, but getting involved in drugs, even at 12 or 13 years old. I just can’t bear to see this. I have an opportunity to help them out with their studies and getting into sport.
“I always remember that whenever I travelled to Honduras, I would ask for strips from the Celtic academy and give them to the schools and other areas in the community. The kids play in the streets and in teams without kits and my wish is to help and train children.
“One problem is funds, though, At Celtic, for example, they can afford the cost of equipment. In one academy in the USA, I know that parents have to pay $10,000 a year for their children to play, but here [Honduras] it’s just not possible to ask parents to pay that much. The maximum here someone could pay in fees is $500 per year for their child to train. This is to pay for kits, and for training. Honduras is not a wealthy country.
“Pitches here aren’t like pitches you’d recognise in Europe, even the top teams don’t have top pitches, so this is something difficult that
I’m up against. It’s why we continue to ask Celtic for help. I use the Celtic name in my academy, not to charge $10,000 but out of love and affection for the club. I don’t make money from it, I use it so the children can benefit and get opportunities in the game.”
Listening to Izaguirre, you can tell he cares. Not even from the words he speaks, but the way he talks. Another reason to expect – and hope for – success at his academy. The former left-back, however, is not simply coaching for the sake of it. He believes he can offer a lot to his players, to help those with talent go even further.
“I learned so much from [coaches] Garry Parker and
John Kennedy because for my entire time at Celtic he was involved in training,” he added. “I have all these training sessions that Kendo gave me and I also asked coaches from the academy to give me some advice because I knew eventually I would do coaching and wanted to prepare. In my academy there are Honduran coaches who are former players themselves and can deliver good quality training to the children.
“I learned a lot at Celtic from Neil Lennon and
Brendan Rodgers, who was a spectacular coach. The same goes for Lennon, we were successful in Europe. I spent more time training under Lennon than with Brendan and he really helped me. I’m not going to copy them, but rather try to take the best qualities that each of them had, do the basics well, and also take aspects from my own experiences in football; always being in good physical shape, always having the right mindset, always having humility and being a player who’s going to do the best on the pitch and do well by his team-mates.
“Lots of things that are important. It’s important to instil this in children here because what people don’t know is that growing up here is really different to the in UK. In all aspects. This sort of stuff is how Celtic helped, giving me the things that would prepare me for going into coaching and also for being a part of the Honduran national team.”
Kids fall into situations which cause them to act like delinquents
EMILIO IZAGUIRRE admits he still doesn’t know what started the trouble during Motagua’s derby match with Olimpia last year that left him with shards of glass in his eye and tragically claimed the lives of three supporters.
The horrific scenes played out during the Honduran Superclasico when supporters battled one another and attacked the players’ bus, leaving Izaguirre and other teammates injured. At least seven other fans were badly wounded as the ugly incident worsened.
“The incident at Olimpia was difficult,” he said. “It started from rocks being thrown at the bus and a bit of glass hit my face and caught my eye.
“I cleaned it out and luckily it wasn’t an overly serious injury. Never before had anything like this happened in Honduras but it happened and I hope to God nothing like it ever happens again. I don’t know why it did, whether anti-social people went into the wrong area and trouble broke out, I’m not sure. But it’s in the past.”
Izaguirre has played – and suffered defeats – in a number of Celtic vs Rangers derbies in Glasgow. Though, despite those losses, the Superclasico may be the lasting negative memory from his career when asked about ‘derby day’.
“The Montagua/Olimpia derby is very different to Celtic and Rangers in many aspects. Here the game is very interrupted. One foul and there’s time-wasting and the game slows down whereas [in Scotland] it was never like that.
“At Celtic it was just everyone going for it, whether you’re winning or losing. It’s different because of how the quality of pitches are too, just everything.”