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Gama Wants More From U-17s
Published: Wednesday | June 22, 2011
Walter Gama
Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer
MONTERREY, Mexico:
Technical director Walter Gama is hatching a plan to keep Jamaica's Under-17 football team together after their 2011 FIFA World Cup campaign here is over.
Technical director Walter Gama is hatching a plan to keep Jamaica's Under-17 football team together after their 2011 FIFA World Cup campaign here is over.
Gama, who recently signed a three-year contract with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and is here with the Young Reggae Boyz, is hoping to avoid a repeat of the "very, very disappointing" scenario, when some of the nation's most promising young talent slipped through the cracks after playing in previous global youth tournaments but never made a successful transition to higher levels of the game.
Gama, who did some work with Jamaica's Under-17 squad which played at 1999 World Cup and other national teams, said he wants to ensure there is proper "follow-up" this time around.
"You have to develop the important players," the Brazilian said here at the weekend through a translator. "You have to work with them."
His aim is to enter the current Under-17 team in a lower-level adult league in Jamaica. That, Gama explained, will help boost the number of games they play each year against more mature competition, one area of Jamaica's football which needs significant upgrade.
"One of the ideas is to try to get most of the players united in a school, university or technical university and participate in a championship like the second division competition," he said, "to keep them together."
That did not happen in the past, according to Gama. He said he was not sure why talented players from the 1999 Under-17 World Cup team - listing Sean Fraser, Keith Kelly and Alien Whittaker among them - did not become mainstays of Jamaica senior teams in succeeding years. All three represented Jamaica at the senior level, but none has received a sustained run to make a significant impact so far.
Players with potential
Gama said he left Jamaica in 2001 and, except for a few from the Under-20 team that qualified for that year's World Cup, like current senior captain Shavar Thomas, he is not sure what happened to those players. But he admitted that it is up to him and his staff to ensure that doesn't happen again. Right now, he sees a few from the current Under-17s eventually stepping up to the senior team.
Gama said he left Jamaica in 2001 and, except for a few from the Under-20 team that qualified for that year's World Cup, like current senior captain Shavar Thomas, he is not sure what happened to those players. But he admitted that it is up to him and his staff to ensure that doesn't happen again. Right now, he sees a few from the current Under-17s eventually stepping up to the senior team.
"With work, sustainability, for sure there are three or four from this team that can make the transition to seniors," Gama said. "We have possibilities for players from this Under-17 team to make it to the seniors."
He believes maybe a couple can make it to the 2014 World Cup qualifying squad as well.
"It's difficult to say," the technical director explained. "I see one or two guys, possibly."
Gama outlined an ideal scenario where Jamaica's young players participate in about "40 to 60 games" per year, starting at age 15. At that rate, they would have played some 240 games by the time they turn 18. That model, Gama explained, has been adopted by football administrations in Brazil, Argentina, Europe, producing stars such as Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Neymar.
"The problem in Jamaica is they play in 15 games a year," Gama said. "Not enough."
Another problem is the poor condition of the island's playing fields. Gama recommended that the "excellent" people who take care of Jamaica's golf courses should be contracted to fix football fields.
Gama is shortly expected to begin preparing Jamaica's Under-23 team for 2012 Olympic qualifiers. He plans to invite about four of the current Under-17 team to train with the squad "for good experience".
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