The Future of Football

In recent times we have been enjoying better football, in terms of both the international and local game, than we were ten years ago. It was, after all, only six years ago (in 1998) that Jamaica qualified for the World Cup for the first time. True, we were beaten convincingly in our first two matches, but we defeated Japan 2-1 to join the fairly small group of countries to actually win a match in their first World Cup appearance.

In 1999 our u17 team qualified for the u17 World Cup. Our u20 team qualified for the u20 World Cup in 2001. Then, in 2004, we had a mis-step when our u23 team failed to qualify for the Olympics. We were eliminated in the final CONCACAF round with losses to all three of our opponents – including Trinidad, a team supposedly less capable than ours in respect of our world rankings. The 2-1 loss to Trinidad, however, was at least respectable in terms of the score line – unlike the 5-0 and 4-0 drubbings received previously at the boots of Mexico and Costa Rica. There was talk of a change in coaching staff – in spite of the fact that our admitted string of recent losses included what is possibly one of the most respectable losses in world football – a 1-0 loss to Brazil. Germany fared worse, after all in the World Cup finals.

No doubt that seems a stretch of a comparison to anyone – but it is the type of comparison that we must make. It appears to have been the kind of comparison the general football community and those in the media seemed prepared to make when we failed to qualify for the Olympics. Never mind the fact that we have never qualified for the Olympics before - or the fact that when we qualified for the u17 and u20 World Cups, both were also firsts in Jamaican football history.

But maybe we expected the trend to continue. Maybe we expected the players who went to the u17 World Cup to go on to compete in the u20 World Cup, and then qualify for the Olympics, and to join the senior team players that would go to the next World Cup – and by God, win it! There’s nothing wrong with such hopes, or that line of thinking, or appreciating the fact that this would be the perfect way to do it – if you forget that our youth development system is still far from perfect, and are unaware of the realities of youth football in Jamaica.

One of those realities is that the u17 team that went to their World Cup is not the u20 team that went to their World Cup. There were quite a few new faces in that team, just as there were quite a few new faces in the Olympic team. That should really have come as no surprise to anyone who claims to be interested in Jamaican football. Because if you are genuinely interested in Jamaican football and its future, you should know that we simply do not have the support needed at either the club or the national level to keep all the u17, u20, and u23 players in the game. We do not have the resources needed to ensure that all the players who have made the commitment and sacrifice necessary to succeed at the international game receive excellent medical care, are properly fed and well-trained, and are able to deal with the financial obligations that inevitably arise with the coming of age.

In a recent Observer article it was reported that the Premier League teams were experiencing severe financial difficulties maintaining their u21 squads in the current u21 competition. Some were expressing an interest in withdrawing completely. Others, like Harbour View, Arnett Gardens, and Portmore United believe that although they too are experiencing financial strains, the development of football players in the u17 to u21 age-group is far too important to consider abandoning the u21 competition. Of course, Harbour View also believes so strongly in youth development that they maintain - to the best of their ability - u13, u15, and u20 squads. This not to say that other Premier League clubs who do not have such programmes believe any less in youth development than Harbour View does. It may be fairer to say that the Premier League teams that do not have such programmes are also providing for the younger age groups to the best of their abilities. The truth is that some Premier League teams are more capable of doing so than others, not that some Premier League teams believe in youth development and others do not. The truth is that youth development is as expensive as it is desirable.

This is why sponsor support is so important. It is pointless to speak of Harbour View having a youth programme when most other clubs do not. Who, after all, are these youngsters to play against? Nor is it sufficient to point to the schools as a source of football development. They are already doing their best, and are also operating without adequate resources. The clubs must develop and enhance their youth programmes if the quality of football currently being played by our national teams is to be maintained, but they cannot do so without significant financial resources.

The game of football happens before, after and during a match. Played at its highest level, it is a way of life. To succeed at the highest level of play, it must be a way of life for all concerned. There is a cost to this. There is the cost of water to maintain the fields. There is the cost of feeding and transporting players. There is the cost of providing medical care and educational opportunities for the players. There is the cost (in spite of the voluntary efforts of many at the management level) of operations and administration. It has been estimated that a club like Harbour View, with squads in each age group, could incur costs of US$ 1 million per year. Now, there is only so much you can do with car washes and other fund-raisers, and the clubs do not yet enjoy the level of support in terms of paying spectators (God bless them) that the national team does. Nor do the clubs, because of what I honestly believe is a misperception on the part of the sponsors (God bless them too) regarding what their contributions are able to accomplish, receive sufficient support from sponsors.

I really do believe that the companies who give freely and willingly to the Jamaica Football Federation should continue doing so, and should give far more to the JFF if they can. It is, in actual fact, a group of very hard-working people with decent intentions that have taken on a challenge of historic proportions, and have done quite well so far. Mr. Boxhill has demonstrated throughout his life in the game – and he has spent the better part of his life in the game – that he is genuinely interested in football as a means by which young men and women can come to a better end. But the sponsors and supporters must recognise that sponsorship at the national level is precisely that – at the national level. Only two teams can reach a final, and there is no tournament in which the winnings are lucrative enough to offset the costs incurred in being in that final.

The Essex Valley football club that enjoyed a great deal of media attention a few years ago received significant amounts of financial support from Alumina Partners of Jamaica. It would not have been possible for them, without that support, to have enjoyed their exploits and successes at the Norway Cup or to have existed at all. The clubs need direct support, at levels greater than currently obtain, to properly maintain and develop their players. We have seen our clubs do this in the shape of Ricardo Gardner, Damani Ralph, Donovan Ricketts, Ricardo Fuller, Onandi Lowe … and the list goes on. We no longer have to question our ability, given the resources, to deliver players who can and will perform at the international level. We only have to question why we are not ready to act in more meaningful ways, to give more of our time and – yes – our money, to ensure that we can make the future of our football better than our past. We cannot continue to blame our coaches if Johnny doesn’t play for the Olympic team, when Johnny stopped playing two years after a series of brilliant performances in the u17 and u20 World Cups and a considerable investment of time and money, because he simply couldn’t afford to play the game anymore – and his club could not afford to help him.

In 2004 Jamaica defeated Uruguay convincingly, with a 2-0 win in the National Stadium. At the very least, it speaks well - in spite of our loss in the Olympics - to our chances in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Because you are genuinely interested in Jamaican football and its future, you know this was a great - indeed historical - achievement. You probably also know that eleven of the players who actually took the field in that match came through our very own Jamaican club system – and that some of them (Damian Stewart at Harbour View comes immediately to mind) still play here today. I cannot think what more our coaching staff could do to demonstrate their confidence in the abilities of our local players, or what more we could expect from our players in terms of demonstrating those abilities.

But because you are genuinely interested in Jamaican football and its future, you should know that there was a cloud in that silver lining – a 3-0 loss to China, in China, by another Jamaica squad that same week. But there is no need to raise the alarms. As we should have learned from our experience in the Olympics, losses are undesirable but not necessarily disastrous. But if we do not provide more meaningful support to our clubs and to the youth development programmes they should provide, we must accept that the loss to China may be more indicative of our prospects than the win against Uruguay. As I have said before, God bless our sponsors and supporters. But before you go to sleep tonight, say a prayer for Jamaican football.

Pray that we all can see fit to do more for the youth players who are its future.

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