| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Karl |
Posted - Feb 14 2004 : 09:14:02 AM
'It has been challenging'
...Boxhill reflects on first two months of his administration
Ian Burnett, Observer staff reporter
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Boxhill. I think that the Reggae Boyz is a strong brand. It is a product that, if packaged properly, can sell and will sell
President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Crenston Boxhill, has described his first two months at the helm of the nation's most popular sport, football, as "very challenging".
But he says it's not surprising, considering that the members of his new administration have been involved in football over the years and were fully aware of what was happening with the Reggae Boyz, locally and internationally.
The JFF boss, who defeated Captain Horace Burrell at last November's Congress at the Starfish Resort in Trelawny, believes his administration has done fairly well in a short space of time, and he remains optimistic that if the Reggae Boyz brand is packaged properly, it will sell.
"It has been very challenging," Boxhill said, "but it is not anything that caught us by surprise because we are all football people and we have been involved in football over the years and were fully aware of what was happening nationally and internationally as far as Jamaica is concerned.
"But of course being at the steering wheel now we realise that it is quite challenging, but I think that as the days go along we are finding our footing.
"I think we have done reasonably well when you consider that since we took over we have been able to send the National Under-23s on two international tours - one to the Eastern Caribbean, where they played two international games, and to the USA, where they played against Canada and were able to get a one-week training camp in preparation for the disastrous tournament in Mexico.
"We were also able to send our girls on two trips, one to Cayman and the other to the USA, so the fact that we have made four international tours in the short space of time and everything - apart from the results as it relates to the Under-23s - went smoothly, no hitches. I think that must be a plus for the administration, and especially since our emphasis is on youth," Boxhill said.
Boxhill, whose professional relationship with FIFA agent, Alex Jutzman, CEO of Soccer Plus, landed two-time World Cup winners, Uruguay, to a friendly international here against Jamaica, also hailed this development as a positive.
"Of course we are in the process of bringing one of the top teams in the world into the country for the first time, so I think when you add all those things together we have been doing fairly well, taking everything into consideration."
Looking to the future, Boxhill, a former president of the Westmoreland, Manchester and Clarendon Football Associations, as well as manager of the Reggae Boyz during their qualification to the France 1998 World Cup Finals, said that the senior Reggae Boyz - the sole money spinner for the football programme - will have to perform at a high standard to sustain spectator support as well as that of corporate Jamaica.
"I think that the Reggae Boyz is a strong brand. It is a product that, if packaged properly, can sell and will sell, and that is why we have put a very strong, professional marketing team in place as opposed to one marketing agent as such.
"But that is going to be dependent on the performance of our teams, especially the senior team, but again we are assessing the situation because we as a federation have to make sure that everything is in place for our team to perform well enough to attract spectators to our games.
"I am certain that once we are playing well, in addition to spectators, we will attract sponsors to the programme as well," Boxhill declared. |
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