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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 11 2005 : 08:07:47 AM
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Downswell, Walters impressed with quality of Under-15s
Ian Burnett, Observer staff reporter
Saturday, June 11, 2005
DOWNSWELL ... impressed with the players' size and technical capability
National head coach Wendell Downswell and his assistant Patrick "Jackie" Walters are impressed with the Under-15 football players they have scouted across the island in recent months.
The two coaches have gone through all the confederations except Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA), which is now in its first phase of selection.
"We are really impressed with the players we have seen, their size and technical capability," Downswell told Sporting World.
"It is the first time we have identified youngsters at this tender age of 15 to prepare them, since we did it in 1998 to qualify the 1999 Under-17 team," added the head coach.
The coaches are scouring the island for players to represent the country in the inaugural Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-15 tournament, scheduled for Trinidad and Tobago from August 2-16.
Having already visited all the parishes where they selected an average of 15 players in the first phase, the two coaches have now shifted to the second phase which is confined to confederations.
Over the past two months, Downswell and Walters have spent every Saturday and Sunday visiting the various confederations scouting and selecting players and setting up programmes for the selected players and coaches to work with.
Following the first phase when players are selected from parishes, they are brought together as a confed group in the second phase, where they participate in a series of games for about 12 players to be selected from each confed for National Trials.
The coaches have also identified "late developers", who seem to possess the natural ability, but who are physically small. "We have identified them to bring them into the Training Centre when it comes on stream. They are between 12 and 14 years old," Downswell added.
And in an effort to expose coaches as well, Downswell and Walters have identified coaches from the various confeds to work with the national technical staff in directing the squads.
Downswell appealed for corporate sponsorship to help the programme for the future, and he implored clubs and schools to groom players to get into the national setup, "which would make things easier for them in the long run".
He also commended the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for committing itself to the under-15 programme.
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Karl |
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Youth Development: U-15
