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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 02 2004 : 04:13:25 AM
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Campbell moulding young goalkeepers
published: Wednesday | June 2, 2004
By Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
THERE Are many angles from which to tell the story of Paul Campbell, Jamaica's national goalkeeper coach.
There's the successful moulding of the likes of Donovan Ricketts, the first home-grown goalkeeper to sign a professional contract in Europe, Under-20 goalkeeper, Allien Whittaker, who was named best goalkeeper at the 2001 Under-20 World Cup held in Argentina and Shawn Sawyers, the most valuable player and goalkeeper of the year in the 2001 season's National Premier League (NPL).
There's also 1996, the year he walked away from a lucrative job with sport goods manufacturers Uhlsports in the United States, to take up his current post with the Jamaica Football Federation the following year in 1997.
CONTRACTS
However, his current ambition to secure contracts in Mexico for at least four of his prodigies would probably make as good a starting point as any.
Not a man to pre-empt himself, the 46-year-old Campbell didn't want to divulge every detail of his plans which owe their existence to the contacts he made earlier this year in February, while in Mexico with Jamaica's under-20 team which was taking part in the Olympic qualifiers. However, goalkeepers Maurice Evans, Jacomena Barrett and Richard McCallum are just three of the players whom he is eyeing from what he describes as a most promising crop of goalkeepers.
McCallum who keeps goal for the Trelawny -based Village United club attracted interest when he represented Jamaica in the final round of of the CONCACAF zone Olympic qualifiers held in Mexico in February of this year.
PART-TIME JOB
If Campbell manages to pull his plans off, it would be material for yet another interesting chapter in Campbell's coaching career which started about 12 years ago in the United States of America where he coached Jamaican keepers such as Michael Henry who later kept goal for Galaxy in Clarendon, Gary Gooden at St Francis College and a few other Jamaican players in the Caribbean league. It was a part-time job, a hobby really, until the St Francis administration invited him to take up a full-time job as coach in 1993. He accepted the offer and worked with them for another year before moving on to Uhlsport.
There's an appreciative tone in his voice when he recalls those days, as Uhlsport was a very supportive employer of what had become a passionate love for football.
"They sponsored any clinic I staged and when I approached them about doing something in Jamaica they did not hesitate," Campbell said.
By then he had already played the field, so to speak, with a variety of short stints with the likes of the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1984 and the Chicago Springs (Indoors) in 1988. Prior to that, between the years of 1976 and 1984, he played semi-professionally for Olympiakos and Hermes in the New York Helenic League. He also kept goal for Jamaica at the national level in 1988 racking up 13 caps to his credit.
TOOK UP GOALKEEPING
A bit of cricket playing at his alma mater, Calabar High School at the colts level (under -16) before migrating to the U.S. also contributed to the mix in his then fledgling sporting career. He took up goalkeeping 31 years ago at Andrew Jackson High School in the United States.
The Jamaican leg of his goalkeeper coaching career really started in 1995 when he staged a goalkeeping clinic for Manning Cup teams.
"I approached the then head of (ISSA) Inter-Secondary School Sports Association, Freddie Green and he gave the go ahead. In that batch of goalkeepers were Leon Gordon who kept goal for Jamaica at the youth level as well as Damion Campbell who won the Manning Cup with Norman Manley and stood out for Waterhouse in the National Premier League.
Excited by what he saw in that camp, Campbell enquired about working with the national squad.
"At the time Duke Fuller, who coached me when I played for Jamaica, was the national coach and I spoke with Horace Reid about the possibility of my joining the staff. He said the Federation liked what I had to offer but said funding would be a problem," Campbell explained.
Following the death of Fuller, Campbell made another approach to the JFF but this time was told that the then technical director, Bazillian Rene Simoes would be inviting one of his countrymen to fill the post.
OPPORTUNITY
Campbell's opportunity was to come a few months later on another trip home. Former national teammate Barrington "Cobra" Gaynor who like many of his countrymen was saddened by Jamaica's 0-6 loss to Bolivia, a 1-3 loss to Costa Rica and a 0-6 Mexico, encouraged him to approach the JFF again. However, after his previous failed attempts, Campbell was hesitant about approaching the JFF again. A persistent Gaynor took it upon himself to make the call to Horace Reid, after which the phone was handed to Campbell who also spoke with Simoes.
"Simoes suggested that after the El Salvador game I should return to Jamaica for a trial as there would be a break. I did two training sessions and Simoes said he had seen enough," Campbell said. That was all he needed to hear to give up his job as a marketing manager at Uhlsport.
In his time with the Jamaica football programme Campbell has seen steady improvement.
"The quality has always been here. What I have done is to help them to bring out the natural talent that is there and instil in them a work ethic," he said.
What has really given him pleasure is the success of players such as Ricketts, a player he has been working with for close to six years.
"With Donovan getting this deal I could almost bemoan the fact that it took so long as he has always had it. He put other things on hold to focus on his education which is commendable but had he focused on the football, he would have evolved sooner," he said.
Campbell is no less proud of Whittaker whom he took from a raw 14-year-old to the top of his age group in the world in 2001. What he saw in Whittaker then made him start a programme which he continues today, that of going to the different confederations to hold clinics.
GETTING HELP
"A passion developed in me then to at least make sure that when players are called to the national programme they would have better technique," Campbell explained. He is currently getting help from one of his former students, Gooden and former national goalkeeper Clive Wedderburn in identifying talent.
"Right now we are looking at a group of Under-20 players such as Ryan Thompson, Ralston Robinson (Star Cosmos), Dwayne Kerr (Reno), Erron Brown (Sporting Central Academy), Dwayne Wilson (Portland), Tristam Summerville (Frome), Kevin Daley (Corn-wall), Jamie Roberts (Wolmer's) and Martin Mundy of Boys' Town; these are nine quality players and the only thing that set Thompson and Robinson apart is that they play regularly for their clubs," Campbell said of the talent emerging.
FRUSTRATION
has almost reached a point of frustration right now as a number of these players who are not getting the right opportunity to play. He compares himself to a classroom teacher who turns out qualified students who are unable to get a job.
"Clubs are only concerned about winning in the short term and as such they stick to the keepers that they know without actually looking at development and marketability as it is easier to export younger players than old ones.
"Here in Jamaica we are developing goalkeepers with good size and it has to be that we are putting them somewhere. We need to look at the untapped market of Latin America," he said. |
Karl |
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Jamaica's Goalkeeper's coach - Paul Campbell
