SELWYN Robertson is a man on a mission. A footballer/coach and farmer, he is committed to the betterment of his community, starting with the youths he sees ‘liming’ on the street corners.
“I’m about community; and I’m trying my best to do my part,” he told me in a recent interview.

A former national footballer for the Camptown Football Club, Robertson was born in Campbellville, where he grew up playing football. “Football was my life,” he said.
However, he left these shores for the United States, where he spent 24 years before re-migrating in 2018. Since then, he has been intent on improving the lives of the young people in the area, gathering almost 30 of them, from five years old to teenagers, and forming, once again, a football club. They meet at the Camptown Youth Centre just across the road from the Camptown Football Ground.

His efforts received an unexpected boost during a chance meeting with President Irfaan Ali on the Georgetown seawall recently.
He and some seniors were out there doing their physical warm-ups when they spotted the President and immediately seized the opportunity to reach out to him. President Ali greeted them, and invited them all to breakfast. They walked together to Demico’s Arapaima on Main Street, where they aired their problems to the Head of State.

Right there and then plans were laid for 27 youths to form a group, and, assisted by the government, start a chicken business on the Soesdyke-Linden highway. The President undertook to earmark a plot of land and have it cleared, while the youths would contribute their labour and ‘sub-up’ to get the project started.

Upon learning of the sorry state of the Camptown Football Ground, which Robertson is in the process of rehabilitating with help from Chung Global, the President made several promises.
He promised the government’s help to fix the fence and gutters, provide light and washroom facilities, and build stands. True to his word, President Ali visited the ground last Monday, and two days later, technicians arrived to begin work on the lighting.

The coach, who has invested his own money in restoring the club’s facilities with assistance from Guyanese in the diaspora and residents of the area, expressed gratitude to President Ali for his much-needed help.
While visiting, the President was taken by Robertson, who also plays steelpan, to a pan yard across the road from the club. The Head-of-State, who has formed a fledgling steelpan band in Berbice, immediately pledged to purchase pans from the local pan-maker, Oliver Prass.

A farmer, with over 180 pigs at his Bachelor’s Adventure, East Coast Demerara farm, Robertson spoke of some of the difficulties he has encountered establishing his business, yet he remains undaunted. He was thankful to the Guyana Livestock Development Association (GLDA) for helping him with artificial insemination for his livestock, which is increasing rapidly.

“This is how I make my living,” he said, announcing that he has now “outgrown” his half-acre plot, and has discussed with President Ali the possibility of acquiring land adjacent to the planned chicken farm.
With a packed day that begins at 03:00hrs each morning, Robertson remains invested in his new club, which he says is now “fully on the move” after its start two years ago.

Plans are afoot to celebrate Camptown Football Club’s 50th anniversary in October of this year. And Robertson has announced ambitious plans of his own to create a Camptown Soccer Academy, with the help of sponsors and the business community.

The former national footballer, who says, “I really get up and try to make a difference,” is certainly helping to transform his community, and make it a safe place for the youths who dwell there.
As American Congressman Jeff Warner said, “We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed for each other. If you are there always for others, then, in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
It is my fervent hope that folks will indeed “be there” for Selwyn Robertson, who needs all the help he can get to turn his dream of a Football Academy into a reality.