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Burrell revels in reality of U-17 dream
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Assistant Sport Editor
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Assistant Sport Editor
Saturday, February 26, 2011
MONTEGO BAY, St James — President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, is breathing easier these days.
The qualification of the Under-17 Reggae Boyz to the Mexico World Cup in the summer may have vindicated his administration and saved him personally as leader a storm of criticism from sceptics on the prowl.
Members of the Jamaica U-17 team celebrate with the national flag after defeating Honduras 2-1 in the CONCACAF quarter-final game on
Members of the Jamaica U-17 team celebrate with the national flag after defeating Honduras 2-1 in the CONCACAF quarter-final game on
Wednesday in Montego Bay and advancing to this summer’s World Cup Finals in Mexico. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
BURRELL... The JFF was always confident, given the time spent in Brazil
Members of the Jamaica U-17 team celebrate with the national flag after defeating Honduras 2-1 in the CONCACAF quarter-final game on Wednesday in Montego Bay and advancing to this summer’s World Cup Finals in Mexico. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
Because when it was first announced that an expensive six-week training camp in Brazil was to be the cornerstone of the team's preparation ahead of the ongoing CONCACAF qualifying tournament in this resort city, the JFF's detractors had a field day.
They claimed that the $15 million spent on the Brazil exercise was a waste of money in lean times for the JFF, and it was money that could have been better spent.
But Burrell held his line. Unruffled, the former army man maintained that the Young Boyz were going to be afforded the best pre-tournament preparation the money could buy.
And after the success on Wednesday, which came with a 2-1 quarter-final win over Honduras at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, the investment has paid handsome returns.
With the mission accomplished, the critics have been silenced — at least for now.
"First of all, as a football administrator and especially as the head, you have to have vision; you also have to be able to inspire those you need to support you, therefore my entire executive supported me with the decision to send this team to Brazil, which in the end has proved to be the right action," said Burrell as he revelled in the achievement after the all-important win that catapulted fans into rapturous celebrations.
"Jamaica is blessed with an abundance of talent, but more success is being affected by a lack of international exposure, so we felt that sending this team to Brazil for initially three weeks, and having seen the positives, we further agreed that we have to find the resources to keep them there for an additional three weeks, and in the end, we were right," said the seasoned administrator, who was at the helm of the JFF when the senior Boyz (1998), Under-17s (1999) and Under-20s (2001) qualified for World Cups during the golden era of Jamaica's football.
Burrell, who is on his second stint as president of the JFF, said he and his directors have shared the vision of doing all that was necessary to get the Under-17s into the World Cup, with success expected to signal a revival of the flagging game in Jamaica.
"The JFF was always confident, given the time spent in Brazil exposing them (Under-17s) and getting them physically fit...
"We expected that they would return to Jamaica and perform very well, and as fate would have it, we performed to the best of our ability, which has culminated with the qualification to the World Cup," noted the football visionary.
"We expected that they would return to Jamaica and perform very well, and as fate would have it, we performed to the best of our ability, which has culminated with the qualification to the World Cup," noted the football visionary.
Burrell earlier this week stated that the impact of success or failure of the team would be two-fold for his administration.
"Qualification would see an immediate resurgence of football, while not qualifying would prove to be a huge challenge for the administration going forward," he said on Monday.
He is now anxiously looking to see the tangible spin-offs from qualification.
"This means a whole lot as, in order to advance our football programme, funding is necessary, but you are not going to get funding unless you perform to the optimum and keep winning, and we believe that we have fulfilled those two criteria... again I am hoping that we will move from strength to strength as we put our football in the fast lane again," Burrell noted.
"This means a whole lot as, in order to advance our football programme, funding is necessary, but you are not going to get funding unless you perform to the optimum and keep winning, and we believe that we have fulfilled those two criteria... again I am hoping that we will move from strength to strength as we put our football in the fast lane again," Burrell noted.
The CONCACAF Executive Committee member said the current Under-17 and Under-20 players are well-positioned to make the transition to the senior level when the time is right.
"We intend to use this group as a nursery and some of these players will soon be ready for the bigger stage. As part of our policy, we believe that we should recruit from the lower age-group once the players are good enough, and I am sure that some of these players will find themselves in the senior Reggae Boyz set-up sooner that many may think," he said.
In continuation of the programme, the Under-20s will depart for Brazil on March 3, for a three-week training camp, which is expected to cost "a pretty penny".
Following immediately on that camp, the team will depart for Guatemala for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying play-offs in March/April.
In Wednesday's Under-17 match where Jamaica led 2-0 at one point with two well-taken goals from striker Jason Wright, Burrell said the improved showing of the home team was an indicator that the outfit was on a path of growth.
"I am particularly pleased with today's (Wednesday's) performance," he ended.
Asked to comment on the work of head coach Wendell Downswell and his team, Burrell said: "I will reserve my opinion until the tournament ends."
Members of the Jamaica U-17 team celebrate with the national flag after defeating Honduras 2-1 in the CONCACAF quarter-final game on Wednesday in Montego bay and advancing to this summer's World Cup Finals in Mexico. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)