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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 30 2002 : 07:47:11 AM
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Interesting Article......Football season beckons
Fri Aug 30 04:13:32 2002
141.149.59.40
Football season beckons
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE FOOTBALL season is virtually just around the corner and in another week or so we will launch off on an eight-month long session that hopefully will rise above the mediocre levels we have become accustomed to over the past few seasons.
The schoolboy season is set to get underway at Jarrett Park on September 7 with a double header featuring the Corporate Area and rural area champions. A day later the club season is set to get rolling with the 12 teams seeking the biggest ever prize money in Jamaican club football, a whopping $1million first prize.
Before we go head long into the season though, the question begs that with the amount of football being played these days does the season really ever end?
It seems these days that there is a football competition going on somewhere just about every month of the year. When it is not domestic parish leagues, it is qualifying competitions, youth competitions, female competition, corner leagues, business house leagues and Masters leagues.
Added to that are the national programmes including female and males teams at every age group level. Just recently the national senior team left the island for England to play two games against India. Yes India. No it is not cricket either or hockey. It is really football. Maybe it is ignorance or indifference on my part but one does not associate India with football, at least not in these parts of the world anyway.
It is a wonder that there is still an audience for the game, especially at the senior levels.
With a population as small as ours and the talent pool even smaller, the same players will keep popping up in most of these leagues. These days it is not uncommon to see Premier League players and national representatives taking part in Masters Leagues, Corner Leagues and Business House leagues.
Chances are it just a western phenomenon as I cannot speak to what happens with the clubs from the Corporate Area or St Catherine or even those in the mid-island regions such as Clarendon or other places.
Maybe it is our economy that forces players to seek to earn as much as their talents will take them. Consider this though, instead of taking up every offer that comes your way with a promise of a few extra thousand dollars and not being able to get adequate rest which will help injuries heal and re charge the batteries, should a player try prolonging their career by selecting to play in only the biggest and best leagues and getting adequate rest in the off-season?
It would seem to make sense to me; then again no one in his or her right minds would ever offer me money to play football so I may not be the right person to comment on the lure of football money.
There will be the exceptions, like in this past season Seba United and Reno. After long season in the now defunct National A-League and the Premier League, both teams had to turn around and play in a qualifying tournament for the new Premier League season.
There goes your off season right down the drain. Factor in training for the new season and talking part in preseason tournaments, it is more than 15 months of football almost every week.
This situation is not always the case however and some players are just in plain Jamaican language 'licky licky'. After a long season, it is not a must that you have to cart off to some hotel team in St Ann or wherever to play in the business house competitions. Neither do they have to play corner leagues under some deplorable field conditions. It is not necessary.
It is a wonder that the clubs who have to pay through their noses for insurance and just about everything for the players don't insist that they take better care of themselves.
Maybe it will take an edict from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to ban Premier League and national players from some competitions.
Then again if the JFF is not prepared to compensate the players for the money they will turn down they cant very well tell them what to do.
With the amount of money available in the Premier League this season, maybe the clubs will be able to take better care of their players who will in turn be able to enjoy real off-seasons.
This column has gone on record commending the new sponsors of the Premier League for their faith in the local game and commitment to the country with their massive infusion of cash to the game.
The breakdown of the cash incentives for the season announced earlier this week is encouraging to say the least and those involved should pat themselves on the back for a job well done.
All that is left to do now is for the players to go out and justify the faith placed in them by Wray and Nephew.
Karl |
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Football season beckons - 2002
