Dear Editor,
To begin with, let me say that I am no expert at football, having only made house teams at high school. However, I am tempted to comment on the performance of the Reggae Boyz in France recently and what it reflects about the effectiveness of the programme.
When we went to the World Cup in France, some years ago, we did so primarily by recruiting talent from among our nationals abroad. I cannot help thinking that this approach is but an extension of the culture of recruiting athletes and other players for various sports teams at the schoolboy level.
When we went to the World Cup in France, some years ago, we did so primarily by recruiting talent from among our nationals abroad. I cannot help thinking that this approach is but an extension of the culture of recruiting athletes and other players for various sports teams at the schoolboy level.
The focus in both cases is not to develop the game, but rather only to prepare talented players to put on a good show. Invest in giving more young people access to take part in the game and the talent will emerge.
Former technical director, Rene Simone once said that when he looked at 12 and 13-year-old players in Jamaica their game was not much different in quality than what he knew in Brazil. However, he also said that, by the time they reached 16 or 17, there would be a significant difference, and at 19 and 20 there would be a huge gap between the players in the two countries.
I would suggest that the Jamaica Football Federation abandons goals of trying to reach the next tournament in Russia and concentrate its efforts and resources on building youth teams at the under-7and under-23 levels. Aim at winning an Olympic medal in soccer rather than reaching the World Cup. The African countries that have done so well started out doing well at the youth level. Ghana and Nigeria have won at the youth level more than once. This allowed them to develop a cadre of world-class players who play at clubs around the world, and provide a pool of experienced and talented players from which to build respectable teams. It is not inconceivable that we could do the same.
R Howard Thompson
Mandeville, Manchester
The JFF needs to reset its goal
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To begin with, let me say that I am no expert at football, having only made house teams at high school. However, I am tempted to comment on the performance of the Reggae Boyz in France recently and what it reflects about the effectiveness of the programme.
When we went to the World Cup in France, some years ago, we did so primarily by recruiting talent from among our nationals abroad. I cannot help thinking that this approach is but an extension of the culture of recruiting athletes and other players for various sports teams at the schoolboy level.
When we went to the World Cup in France, some years ago, we did so primarily by recruiting talent from among our nationals abroad. I cannot help thinking that this approach is but an extension of the culture of recruiting athletes and other players for various sports teams at the schoolboy level.
The focus in both cases is not to develop the game, but rather only to prepare talented players to put on a good show. Invest in giving more young people access to take part in the game and the talent will emerge.
Former technical director, Rene Simone once said that when he looked at 12 and 13-year-old players in Jamaica their game was not much different in quality than what he knew in Brazil. However, he also said that, by the time they reached 16 or 17, there would be a significant difference, and at 19 and 20 there would be a huge gap between the players in the two countries.
I would suggest that the Jamaica Football Federation abandons goals of trying to reach the next tournament in Russia and concentrate its efforts and resources on building youth teams at the under-7and under-23 levels. Aim at winning an Olympic medal in soccer rather than reaching the World Cup. The African countries that have done so well started out doing well at the youth level. Ghana and Nigeria have won at the youth level more than once. This allowed them to develop a cadre of world-class players who play at clubs around the world, and provide a pool of experienced and talented players from which to build respectable teams. It is not inconceivable that we could do the same.
R Howard Thompson
Mandeville, Manchester
The JFF needs to reset its goal
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