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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 17 2004 : 12:08:59 PM
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Under-23s leave for one-week Florida camp
SEAN A WILLIAMS, Observer staff reporter
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Jamaica's men's Under-23 Olympic football team will make a quick turnaround when they depart for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, today for a one-week training camp after having returned to the island on Thursday following a two-match tour of the French Caribbean.
The Young Reggae Boyz, who are in preparation for the final phase of CONCACAF Olympic Games qualification in Mexico from February 2-12, will tackle the senior team of St Vincent tomorrow at 7:00 pm and their Canadian peers on Tuesday.
Also leaving today for Fort Lauderdale is the 18-member women's Under-23 Olympic team, who is in their finals of qualification play-offs set for Costa Rica from February 25 to March 5.
The junior Reggae Girls will play Haiti tomorrow in a practice match - a curtain-raiser to the Boyz's showdown with St Vincent at 5:00 pm.
The group could go straight to Mexico from the camp or return to the island on January 24, 'but that is yet to be worked out'.
Coach of the men's team, Peter Cargill, said he's satisfied with the progress the players have made in their lead-up to the Guadalajara tournament where they are grouped with Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica in Zone B of the eight-team play-offs.
He said that work of best getting the players ready will continue in Florida. 'We move tomorrow (today) to Fort Lauderdale where we will continue our preparation and we will keep looking at players until we can find the right 18 for Mexico,' he said.
'We will continue to try and lift the physical capacity of the players and the games that we will play in Fort Lauderdale will help in what we want to do tactically,' Cargill added.
US-based Khari Stephenson and Kevon Harris, along with Trinidad-based Nicholas Addlery, will join today's departing 16-man squad at the camp base in South Florida.
Cargill is confident that the two games in the USA will help sufficiently in putting the finishing touches on his team's preparation. 'We are sure they will help our cause, but we won't be satisfied until we achieve our goals and that's what we are aiming for,' said the former Jamaica captain.
In their games in the Eastern Caribbean, Cargill noted the oppositions were strong and provided his team with a real test.
'We played some oppositions that can play football. They were organised. It was their senior teams and they have been working together for a while and are in good condition,' he told the Observer. 'They were two tough games,' Cargill reiterated.
Against Guadeloupe, goals from Roland Dean and Fabian Dawkins ensured the Boyz a 2-2 tie, while striker, Addlery's effort gave the visitors a 1-0 win over Martinique.
'Overall I thought we performed well in the games...,' Cargill noted.
While the U-23s continue to pursue their dream of creating history by making it to the Athens Games this summer, they are not discouraged by the lack of funds to cover their incentive payments among other things.
'We will continue to work as we have our part to play. The sponsors will come in and try and help I am sure. We will continue to work irrespective of what happens,' said a positive Cargill, who, along with technical director, Carl Brown, had gone public with their pleas for help for the Olympic programmes.
Meanwhile, Brown has summoned a 20-man squad of mostly local-based players to a five-day senior national training camp to run from tomorrow to next Friday.
Four Under-23 players have been included in the group. They are Lovell Palmer, Marlon Bennett, Jacomena Barrett and Luton Shelton. The rest of the squad includes: Aaron Lawrence, Shawn Sawyers, Ian Goodison, Roen Nelson, Teofore Bennett, Gerald Neil, Damion Stewart, Shane Crawford, Theodore Whitmore, Fabian Davis, Damani Ralph, Cornel Chin-Sue, Fabian Taylor, Jermaine Hue, Jonathan Williams and Kasai Hinds.
Under-23 men's squad: Richard McCallum, Allien Whittaker, Christopher Harvey, Shavar Thomas, Wayne Ellis, Tyrone Sawyers, Damion Williams, Desmond Breakenridge, Garfied Reid, Demar Phillips, Fabian Dawkins, Keith Kelly, Roland Dean, Weston Forrest, Maurice Evans and Wolry Wolfe.
Under-23 women's squad: Nikeisha Thomas, Chantelle McLennon, Sharika Evans, Philisha Lewis, Jennifer Williams, Genieva Sinclair, Natalya Manyan, Alicia James, Alicia Wilson, Omalyn Davis, Diana Hue, Denise Duncan, Jodian McGregor, Nordia Reid, Venecia Reid, Tashana Vincent, Rochelle Bryan and Neisha Forbes.
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Karl |
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2004 : 12:12:53 PM
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JFF blames Florida promoters for cancellations
Sunday, January 18, 2004
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is blaming its Florida promoters for the cancellation of practice games for the Olympic men's and women's teams which were scheduled for Fort Lauderdale this evening.
The Sunday Observer has learnt that a Friday mid-day deadline for the promoters to provide the JFF with a copy of authorisation for the games from the US Soccer Federation was not forthcoming.
'We had originally given them (promoters) a Thursday deadline and when we called them we were told by a representative that he had it but he was on the road and he was going to fax it to us,' said acting general secretary of the JFF, Burchell Gibson.
'...When we called back on mid-day Friday we found out that he was not being truthful as it relates to documentation for the game,' he added.
As part of a one-week camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Young Reggae Boyz were down to play two warm-up games before they go off to Guadalajara, Mexico, for the final CONCACAF eliminations from February 2 to 12 for the Athens Olympics in the summer.
The women's team, like their male counterparts, are also preparing for their final stage Olympic qualifiers set for Costa Rica from February 25 to March 5.
At 7:00 pm today, the Jamaicans were to meet St Vincent and the Grenadines, while the junior girls were set to tackle their Haitian counterparts at 5:00 in a what was to be a double header.
Apart from the go-ahead from Soccer USA, the promoters had also failed in their promise to secure a venue for the matches.
'They were not successful in obtaining the use of a stadium. In fact, he (the representative) told us that he paid half the money for the stadium and when he went back, the stadium personnel were not there for him to pay the other half,' Gibson said yesterday.
The game against Canada, Gibson noted, was still on and will be played as scheduled on Tuesday, but he could not name the venue.
'That information you will get by the latest Monday. There are some logistics relating to that particular game which have not been finalised. But it will go ahead as discussed,' he said.
That match was not affected as it will be played as a part of Canada's tour of the USA and they had already got clearance from the US football authorities.
'As you know Canada are staying in the USA playing some games, so this game (with Jamaica) was discussed and added to their roster and this game is part of the tour that they have signed off on with the US Soccer Federation,' Gibson explained.
While the men's 16-member team left the island yesterday, the girls remained grounded.
'We had to make a judgement call because if we go to Florida to play a game that was not sanctioned by the other federation, then there could be serious repercussions for us,' Gibson said.
- Sean Williams
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Under-23s - January 17, 2004
