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ACE striker Ben Rodney was back in Bahrain over the summer sharing his soccer skills at training sessions for children and a conditioning regime fit for a player trying to break into an English Premiership side.
The pressure remains on the former British School of Bahrain pupil who secured a place on a top US university degree course and a scholarship to play the sport for Nazareth College, in Rochester, New York, where he is studying for a four-year BA in business administration.
British expat Ben, 19, whose family live in Hamala, first showed his potential on the ball at the tender age of two and started playing in a youth team at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club at the age of seven.
“It took me the first couple of months to settle in the US and become accustomed to living an independent lifestyle. However, the boys on the football team really helped me adjust and I am forever grateful to be a part of such a great team – they are like your brothers, you train with them daily and then travel together and play on the weekends.”
After a summer break this week he started the second year of his degree course and is what they call in the American educational system a ‘sophomore’.
Pre-season training started on Monday but there had been no room to rest over the summer months as he attempted to stay in shape for the season ahead.
Ben explained: “Competition for a starting place in the first team and maintaining your place on the squad is at an all-time high.
“We received an email from our coach saying that he was expecting another 12 to14 new players to join our squad in August, meaning for pre-season training we will number between 34-36 lads!
“Doing all you can off the field to make yourself fitter and stronger is so crucial to getting that starting spot, so I have been as motivated as ever to cement my place and excited about the upcoming challenges!”
His tough-talking coach Daniel Gilbertson told him: “Being lean, fit, tough and having confidence and belief are the components for consistent results. With the incoming freshman and transfers, we have a squad that is too big. Therefore, I will have to make some cuts. Your job is to make sure it is not you.”
An English Premiership side shared its summer training schedule set up for its reserves hoping to break into the first team. It was a comprehensive list aimed at improving speed, touch and stamina and was not for the faint-hearted.
But Ben still found time to help train the Dilmun Club’s young footballers by assisting coach Paul Carney with regular sessions.
Ben’s parents, housewife Joanne, 45, and Derrick, 48, a partner/owner and chief operating officer of OAK Utility Solutions & Development, a Bahrain-based company, are proud of their son. They also have three daughters, Alex, 16, Charlotte, nine, and Grace, eight.
Their son’s college dream was set up by John Calderwood, a sports scholarship graduate who now runs his own business, US4 Soccer, scouting for talent and placing them in universities throughout the US.
Both students and the country benefit from the arrangement.
Latest figures reveal more than 400 Bahrainis and Bahrain-based expats are studying in US universities and colleges and have contributed $13.5 million to the US economy.
These estimates are from Carian College Advisors, an education consultancy specialising in US admissions guidance, and are based on the latest 2013 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, released by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Peter Davos, its managing director, said: “The number of Bahraini students studying in the US stood at 459 students in the 2012-13 academic year. We expect this number to rise further, because of the prevailing corporate culture in Bahrain and strong demand for American-educated graduates in the job market in different sectors, such as finance, marketing, management and engineering, among others.
“Traditionally, Bahrain hosts a wide range of American, British and IB curriculum system schools, all of which are curricula that US Admissions are familiar with.”
