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You can’t fool me, JFF
Istarted having serious stomach cramps on Tuesday, five minutes out of Santa Cruz on my way to Malvern to cover the Jamaica Football Federation’s site inspection of the national academy and training centre under construction.
We turned around quickly and just made it to a restaurant in the town… luckily I won that race.
That quick diversion set me up for what was to take place later in Malvern.
It confirmed what I believe, that minds had already been made up before even seeing the property, and the trip was nothing more than a day trip to the country.
I am willing to bet any money that a ‘unanimous decision’ has already been taken to move the academy back from St Elizabeth to Portmore. In my mind, this move has nothing to do with the national interest.
Like Tuesday’s trip, the discussions on the academy at the December 22 meeting will be a waste of time, but will be carried out nevertheless to show that there were some discussions on the matter.
I do agree with the JFF’s Technical Committee Chairman Howard McIntosh that there are fundamental questions that must be asked about the academy. These questions, however, are applicable to any site that the JFF chooses.
I don’t buy the JFF president’s view of what the academy should be. He envisions a facility in or near a major population centre where outsiders will have access on any given day.
This, he contends, is what pertains in Trinidad. My question is, why are we using examples from a country like Trinidad whose football culture is not superior to ours? Why don’t we look to countries with established football cultures to see how they do things and use them to set our parameters? Countries like Holland, France, Germany, Brazil and England are good examples.
I have had the opportunity to see the academies of two of England's oldest clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham Hot Spurs, two clubs based in the greater North London area, and none of their academies were based in the more populous areas. Rather, they were in secluded areas, far from the maddening crowd.
My biggest disappointment on Tuesday was the admission by the St Elizabeth FA Courtney Brown that it was the first time he had been on the property to get a first-hand view of what was there.
This is the same Courtney Brown who less than two months ago heaped scorn on the facilities in Malvern calling it a waste of FIFA’s money.
He told me he had “driven past it” but had never gone there.
So which story is true, the one in October or the one now?
Football delegates in St Elizabeth must demand an honest answer from their president, whom they elected to represent them at the higher levels.
One would have thought Brown would be at the front of the line campaigning for the academy to be located in his parish where no doubt they would gain tremendous benefits.
Sadly, however, this is the kind of representation we have received from the FA presidents in the previous Burrell-led JFF administrations, and it seems to be the type we’re going to have to get used to again.
YEAH, RIGHT. Carvel Stewart, the JFF
•s Director of the academy project (left) shows some of the plans for the academy being built at Malvern to some members of the touring party on Tuesday. In the background at left is Courtney Brown president of the St Elizabeth Football Association. /Photo: Paul Reid
Istarted having serious stomach cramps on Tuesday, five minutes out of Santa Cruz on my way to Malvern to cover the Jamaica Football Federation’s site inspection of the national academy and training centre under construction.
We turned around quickly and just made it to a restaurant in the town… luckily I won that race.
That quick diversion set me up for what was to take place later in Malvern.
It confirmed what I believe, that minds had already been made up before even seeing the property, and the trip was nothing more than a day trip to the country.
I am willing to bet any money that a ‘unanimous decision’ has already been taken to move the academy back from St Elizabeth to Portmore. In my mind, this move has nothing to do with the national interest.
Like Tuesday’s trip, the discussions on the academy at the December 22 meeting will be a waste of time, but will be carried out nevertheless to show that there were some discussions on the matter.
I do agree with the JFF’s Technical Committee Chairman Howard McIntosh that there are fundamental questions that must be asked about the academy. These questions, however, are applicable to any site that the JFF chooses.
I don’t buy the JFF president’s view of what the academy should be. He envisions a facility in or near a major population centre where outsiders will have access on any given day.
This, he contends, is what pertains in Trinidad. My question is, why are we using examples from a country like Trinidad whose football culture is not superior to ours? Why don’t we look to countries with established football cultures to see how they do things and use them to set our parameters? Countries like Holland, France, Germany, Brazil and England are good examples.
I have had the opportunity to see the academies of two of England's oldest clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham Hot Spurs, two clubs based in the greater North London area, and none of their academies were based in the more populous areas. Rather, they were in secluded areas, far from the maddening crowd.
My biggest disappointment on Tuesday was the admission by the St Elizabeth FA Courtney Brown that it was the first time he had been on the property to get a first-hand view of what was there.
This is the same Courtney Brown who less than two months ago heaped scorn on the facilities in Malvern calling it a waste of FIFA’s money.
He told me he had “driven past it” but had never gone there.
So which story is true, the one in October or the one now?
Football delegates in St Elizabeth must demand an honest answer from their president, whom they elected to represent them at the higher levels.
One would have thought Brown would be at the front of the line campaigning for the academy to be located in his parish where no doubt they would gain tremendous benefits.
Sadly, however, this is the kind of representation we have received from the FA presidents in the previous Burrell-led JFF administrations, and it seems to be the type we’re going to have to get used to again.
YEAH, RIGHT. Carvel Stewart, the JFF
•s Director of the academy project (left) shows some of the plans for the academy being built at Malvern to some members of the touring party on Tuesday. In the background at left is Courtney Brown president of the St Elizabeth Football Association. /Photo: Paul Reid
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