Former Hamilton Parish player Corey Hill believes there are more Aaron Burgesses in Bermuda, they just need the support of their parents and clubs to get opportunities overseas.

Burgess, who turns 17 next month, will leave the Island tomorrow for northern England. He will soon become the Island’s latest overseas professional footballer when he signs for Huddersfield where another Bermudian, Nahki Wells, is one of their star players.

Burgess, like goalkeeper Nathan Trott, 17, who recently signed for West Ham, had the support of his parents to help him pursue his dreams and Hill, who was a youth coach at Hamilton Parish prior to this season, wants to see clubs doing more to help their youngsters.

“These are the type of things we need to put in place so that these kids, when they reach a certain age, the opportunities are there for them,” Hill said.

“As we all know between the ages of 13 and 15 is kind of when we lose our boys, and if we don’t have a contingency plan for these kids then some of them get lost. His father [Phillip Burgess] has done an excellent job by giving him the opportunities abroad and that is one of the main reasons he was picked up.

“We’ve got an abundance of talent, not only at Hamilton Parish but throughout the Island, and as long as these kids work hard and their parents understand the importance of it then there are going to be a lot more kids like Aaron Burgess going overseas.”

Burgess spent a couple of years at IMG Academy in Florida before the opportunity of a trial at Huddersfield came last September. He impressed the coaches there with his pace, but Hill believes he has other qualities, too.

“One thing we know is the English game is built around pace and strength, but Aaron is a very strong individual so he has that aspect of his game covered,” said Hill, who coached the age groups just below Burgess at Hamilton Parish.

“They just have to put the technical part and the skill part with that and he could be the complete player.

“He also has the work ethic, he wants to be a professional and that’s where it all starts, the mentality of the individual and the support of the people around him. He’s a kid who works hard after training, he’s always the last one to leave training and the first one there and he does his extras. He’s getting the rewards and he deserves it.”

Added Hill: “It actually inspires the other kids who are one or two years beneath him to see a person in their age bracket who has an opportunity like this.

That’s very important, somebody setting the example to let them know it is possible. It is very important to expose the kids to different situations, it opens their eyes and you find out who is serious and who is not serious.

“It’s the club’s responsibility to get these kids exposed.

“That’s one of the things I’ve been trying to stress to our executives at Hamilton Parish, that we’ve gone past winning Kappa tournaments and being undefeated during the year, we need to branch out and partner with someone overseas, whether America or Europe, so that these kids on the fringe get a fair shot.”

Burgess is the latest in a number of athletes in the Burgess family, including cousins Nigel and Tyrell Burgess, and Shakeem and Michael Albuoy. Zaire Simmons, a talented tennis player, is another first cousin while Aaron’s father was a talented footballer, too.

“Luckily for Aaron, his father and the Burgess family have always been supportive of their athletes, from his uncles and aunts, and some kids don’t have that,” Hill said.