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Let the academy stay in St Bess
file - JFF president Captain Horace Burrell
Western Bureau
Despite the fact that over four years have elapsed since ground was broken for the multi-million dollar FIFA financed Jamaica football academy, it seems unlikely that we will be laying eyes on any such facility in the immediate future.
Shortly after that ceremonial ground-breaking ceremony, which took place in Portmore in 2003, Captain Burrell, the then Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, was voted out of office, leaving the project in the hands of the Crenston Boxhill-led administration, which showed no inclination to site the project in Portmore.
In fact, after several long periods of inactivity, the Boxhill administration belatedly announced that it had acquired a 4.4 acres property in the cool hills of Malvern, St. Elizabeth, which it plans to develop and fashion into becoming the home of the Jamaica's football academy.
While I was never a fan of the Boxhill administration, I applauded the decision to move the academy to St. Elizabeth, which I think is ideally located away, from the distractions of the daily hustle and bustle of city life. In addition, I believe the climatic conditions would add another challenging component to team preparation.
I became somewhat concerned about the future of the academy a few weeks ago when Captain Horace Burrell, shortly after he was reinstalled as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), raised concerns about its isolated location, distance from the National Stadium and commercial viability.
In fact, after listening to Captain Burrell, I was left with the distinct impression that he was of the view that building the academy in St. Elizabeth would be a mistake.
However, I felt that the new administration would have no choice but to go with the flow since $35 million had already been expended on the project.
strongest argument
However, following a visit to the Malvern location by a high-level JFF delegation earlier this week, it would appear that the project could be scrapped as, based on the feedback from the delegation, they appear to be unimpressed by what they saw. In fact, it will be most interesting to see what recommendations they will make to the federation's board.
Having listened to some of the concerns expressed by the delegation, I can't say I am impressed with their line of thinking. In fact, their strongest argument seems to be about the three to four hours journey from Kingston to Malvern and the location's two-hour plus distance from their nearest airports, which, to me, are trivial reasons at best.
Unless someone is under the nonsensical impression that a team camping at Malvern would be required to travel to Kingston every day for training, I can't see the relevance of Malvern being a four-hour trip to Kingston. If the team has a game in Kingston on Sunday, I see no reason why they could not break camp in Malvern on Thursday and spend two or three days in Kingston.
In terms of the academy's commercial considerations, those are matters that could be handled out of the JFF's current headquarters, which should be the federation's administrative base, regardless of where the academy is located. In addition, if commercial viability from a merchandising standpoint is the major concern, then Montego Bay, the tourist capital, and not Kingston should be the preferred location.
Personally, I believe that unless the JFF can come up with more compelling reasons, the academy should stay in St. Elizabeth, which is a haven for fresh air, fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh location, away from the buzz of city life, including night time attractions.
Having listened to some of the concerns expressed by the delegation, I can't say I am impressed with the line of their thinking. In fact, their strongest argument seems to be about the three to four hours journey from Kingston to Malvern and the location's two-hour plus distance from their nearest airports, which to me are trivial reasons at best
file - JFF president Captain Horace Burrell
Western Bureau
Despite the fact that over four years have elapsed since ground was broken for the multi-million dollar FIFA financed Jamaica football academy, it seems unlikely that we will be laying eyes on any such facility in the immediate future.
Shortly after that ceremonial ground-breaking ceremony, which took place in Portmore in 2003, Captain Burrell, the then Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) boss, was voted out of office, leaving the project in the hands of the Crenston Boxhill-led administration, which showed no inclination to site the project in Portmore.
In fact, after several long periods of inactivity, the Boxhill administration belatedly announced that it had acquired a 4.4 acres property in the cool hills of Malvern, St. Elizabeth, which it plans to develop and fashion into becoming the home of the Jamaica's football academy.
While I was never a fan of the Boxhill administration, I applauded the decision to move the academy to St. Elizabeth, which I think is ideally located away, from the distractions of the daily hustle and bustle of city life. In addition, I believe the climatic conditions would add another challenging component to team preparation.
I became somewhat concerned about the future of the academy a few weeks ago when Captain Horace Burrell, shortly after he was reinstalled as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), raised concerns about its isolated location, distance from the National Stadium and commercial viability.
In fact, after listening to Captain Burrell, I was left with the distinct impression that he was of the view that building the academy in St. Elizabeth would be a mistake.
However, I felt that the new administration would have no choice but to go with the flow since $35 million had already been expended on the project.
strongest argument
However, following a visit to the Malvern location by a high-level JFF delegation earlier this week, it would appear that the project could be scrapped as, based on the feedback from the delegation, they appear to be unimpressed by what they saw. In fact, it will be most interesting to see what recommendations they will make to the federation's board.
Having listened to some of the concerns expressed by the delegation, I can't say I am impressed with their line of thinking. In fact, their strongest argument seems to be about the three to four hours journey from Kingston to Malvern and the location's two-hour plus distance from their nearest airports, which, to me, are trivial reasons at best.
Unless someone is under the nonsensical impression that a team camping at Malvern would be required to travel to Kingston every day for training, I can't see the relevance of Malvern being a four-hour trip to Kingston. If the team has a game in Kingston on Sunday, I see no reason why they could not break camp in Malvern on Thursday and spend two or three days in Kingston.
In terms of the academy's commercial considerations, those are matters that could be handled out of the JFF's current headquarters, which should be the federation's administrative base, regardless of where the academy is located. In addition, if commercial viability from a merchandising standpoint is the major concern, then Montego Bay, the tourist capital, and not Kingston should be the preferred location.
Personally, I believe that unless the JFF can come up with more compelling reasons, the academy should stay in St. Elizabeth, which is a haven for fresh air, fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh location, away from the buzz of city life, including night time attractions.
Having listened to some of the concerns expressed by the delegation, I can't say I am impressed with the line of their thinking. In fact, their strongest argument seems to be about the three to four hours journey from Kingston to Malvern and the location's two-hour plus distance from their nearest airports, which to me are trivial reasons at best
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