Disappointed in Jamaican football
Dear Editor,
I am deeply disappointed in the Reggae Boyz’s failure to qualify for Brazil 2014 and for the general state of football in Jamaica, especially St Mary. The Reggae Boyz surely had the quality to compete with any team in the world, but the Brazil 2014 campaign was grossly mismanaged — or maybe over-managed.
I returned home to Jamaica in 2000 after spending over 30 years in the United States, most of that time being involved in football (soccer to Americans). Each of our campaigns from 2002 started with great enthusiasm and expectations only to end in disappointment. But Brazil 2014 took the cake as far as confusion and mismanagement are concerned. Resources was grossly misappropriated resulting in poor preparation and without proper preparations, especially at the highest level of competition, there is no hope of success.
It is apparent that the administrators in the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) do not understand the value of team morale and togetherness. Maybe it was inadvertent, but it seemed to me that the coaching staff and players were always under duress; produce or else! We all know that it is results that counts, but when a coach is hired to qualify the team, and is fired before playing the first qualifying game, then something is wrong. This type of attitude has contributed to the lacklustre performances of the Reggae Boyz over the years.
There is a reason the Mexico game at the Azteca has stood out as the most outstanding game of the Brazil 2014 campaign. That game was played at the highest level of intensity for 90 minutes than any other game since the 1998 campaign. Check the tapes! The reason was that the team was a new team, with new players drafted into the squad to bolster it. The players taking the field, all professionals, understood the historic occasion and played with a high level of motivation throughout the match and produced a performance beyond our collective expectation. It is for this very reason that Coach Schafer had got better performances from the Boyz.
I hope the JFF is successful in retaining the services of Coach Schafer and assign him the responsibility of qualifying the Reggae Boyz for Brazil 2016 (Olympics) and Russia 2018 (World Cup), and nothing else, because his hands will be full keeping abreast of the players overseas and developing local players for the Under-23 squad (Olympics). I think that would be our first time qualifying for the Olympics in football and would make for a perfect start and set the tone to qualify for Russia 2018.
My personal disappointment with local football comes from the fact that there is hardly any football being played in the rural areas. On returning to Jamaica, my intention was to immerse myself in local football with the dream of starting an academy on the development basis undertaken by the US when they made a commitment to develop the game.
Jamaica youth football pales in comparison, and therefore fall even further behind. Each parish should have age group teams comprising of Under 12, 15, 17, and 19 teams that compete regularly with other parishes and top club teams and travel to tournaments worldwide. Annual tournaments should be held to determine national age group champions. All the Canadians and Americans competing in the current Women Under-17 Championship have played in several high level tournaments in their careers. I doubt if the local girls on the Reggae Girlz squad have played in any.
In 2002, when I was hired as the Manning Cup coach at St George’s College, that was the realisation of a lifelong dream that quickly turned into a nightmare. I expected to have 50+ players trying out to make the squad, but had less than 20 players despite posting flyers all over the campus inviting players out. My second year was no different, and despite losing only 3 games in the two years, I was not invited to continue. I have since moved to St Mary, which is truly barren land when it comes to football. They were even left out of the government’s new programme to upgrade facilities for sports throughout Jamaica.
So, I sit idle, despite having a lot I could contribute to football in Jamaica. Unfortunately, you have to have deep pockets to try to make a difference in Jamaica and, again, unfortunately, I don’t.
Andre Bell
Boscobel, St Mary
andrebell7@hotmail.com
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