Transparency and common sense is so refereshing

[Sir X]

I forgot to add thats on L.I and the fields were not pristine,St Georges college had better fields than all what I have seen and played on in L.I

[OJ]

dont st george college plays brilliant one tough football. is it because coach bell is a genius or he has a good surface to work with.

[Sir X]

What would you say about the others who play on terrible fields and do well in school boy football ?

They play well no excellent for our school boy standard,it doesnt seem to translate to the national youth teams,is it because the Genius stops at Georges field and coach Bell mental faculties?

[Gamma]

they play well on terrible fields and cannot play well on a good field ... think about it.

[Sir X]

OJ ,Gamma a talk to yuh !

[OJ]

I understand why you are missing the point. you are making some assumptions. Doing well is school boy football has very little to moving on to the next level. I would argue school boy football is a detriment to development but that for a different day. I simply stated that it is scientific why teams such as Georges who train on good surface play quick passing one touch football It does not mean all Georges players are going to be national players but the mere point that the surface you play on matters greatly and you dont need Jose Mourhihno or Alex Ferguson to teach you how to recieve a ball or strike a moving ball. One of The issue we have is a lack of proper fields and other infrastructure but the surface is important. Stay focus not just building fields but proper surfaces. If you read what Gaynor is saying they spent lots of $$ on the field but the wrong top soil was used. I dont know but I would bet it is a lot of Marl, (Mosiah may know, hell he may of build it) that would explain. If I was in Jamaica i would build by field with a drainage zone, a good sub root and 80-20 sand but most of the fields they use marl so you get a hard bumpy field , even if it is grassed. Catherine hall is a sand base field almost to the other extreme.. but I digress

You Need

Good infrastructure (that includes fields) but other thing too
Good Coaches
Good Administrators

[OJ]

point being they have bad habits that they picked up compensating on playing on bad fields. That is why you need good fields.

[Paul Marin]

Wa$te of money ,That us 500k could turn out a 100 UEAFA (A) coaches,we need at least 1 in the national set up ,the question is ? is it cheaper to develop a quality field and maintain it for that money ?

100 UEFA A coaches eh? Ok...how much do you think it costs to get a UEFA A license? Keep in mind that you have to a) go through the lower levels first b) pay for each lower level c) stay in those lower levels for at least a year per level and d) each level costs money and each of those levels (A and B) require that you do other supporting components (e.g. video tape your practices, evaluate them, etc.). Just so you understand, the presumption is that UEFA A and B coaches are making a living wage from coaching football. I await your response.

[Sir X]

Making assumptions like .."you have coaching education in place"....now yuh a tie up yuhself wid.. "I simply stated that it is scientific " ...where ?

You present your point with assumptions that we must take for granted to rebutt your conclusion that fields take precedence over a standardized educational coaching structure e.g...."One of The issue we have is a lack of proper fields and other infrastructure but the surface is important "

What the hell is other infrastructure ,is coaching in that other, the question is which do you priorities 1st ,I said we need proper fields but at US 500K,it would be better spent on what I believe is the priority !

The proof as I stated " the benefits of having an educational standardized system in coaching has historically been beneficial to every sporting discipline !"I also gave you the student ,teacher,blackboard analogy !

[Jangle]

"What I want to do, especially, is I want the JFF to commit $100 million or just about US$1 million over the next two years — 2018, 2019 — and then ask the Government and private sector to match those funds because it is not only our field at UWI that needs to be repaired or replaced, but we need to at least construct a minimum requirement field in every parish in Jamaica, and the JFF, from the Forward Funds, we will commit that,” he assured."


You both have good points, however, in this case I would side with reappropriating money from FIFA to improving our physical structures before spending it on improving the coaches. If these fields are done properly and the proper ongoing maintenance is put in place, then the long-term effects would be more far-reaching.

[Paul Marin]

"What I want to do, especially, is I want the JFF to commit $100 million or just about US$1 million over the next two years — 2018, 2019 — and then ask the Government and private sector to match those funds because it is not only our field at UWI that needs to be repaired or replaced, but we need to at least construct a minimum requirement field in every parish in Jamaica, and the JFF, from the Forward Funds, we will commit that,” he assured."


You both have good points, however, in this case I would side with reappropriating money from FIFA to improving our physical structures before spending it on improving the coaches. If these fields are done properly and the proper ongoing maintenance is put in place, then the long-term effects would be more far-reaching.

Why not put the money into developing A-License coaches so they can put their skills to good work coaching on crappy fields? That's the X factor! Anyway - it's not one or the other. It's both. We have to invest in both developing coaching talent and physical infrastructure, but my two cents is to (almost) forget about the UEFA A/B standard for now as it is required at the later ages. What we need to do is start with great SAFE fields for LITTLE kids aged 4-12 to develop the correct technical skills - e.g. focus on the Coerver and Cogi models that develop both ball mastery and body mastery and on small sided games that emphasize possession, team work, and decision making. I said "almost" forget about the older age groups because we have a serious problem with the high school obsession that afflicts our country and inadequate facilities.

I don't have an answer to that but it has to be addressed as there is no top level national program anywhere in the world that defers as much as we do to high school programs; it is a similar problem America has with NCAA soccer, which is a complete waste of time.

At a very high level, I suggest the minimal objective for the older age groups (13-21) should be a 10 month season with as much concentration of talent as possible. In other words, get the best playing together at each age group for 10 months a year. It would mean having the high standards of coaches such as UEFA A/B or USSF A/B. This requires serious funds as those licenses are NOT CHEAP (the US C license is now about US$2K and is a GRUELING 6 month exercise). Furthermore, player assessment is a constant evaluation and re-evaluation process and funds are required for travel, higher level coaches, and international exposure. This stage is very difficult without serious funds.

Over time, the 4-6 year olds that are part of a skills-focus should enter the 11-v-11 age groups (13+) with the right fundamental skills. For example, last September, my 8 year olds (2007 born) all were given a juggling target based on their starting point for a) alternating feet b) right/strong foot and c) left/weak foot. My best juggler was at 30, 8 and 6; my worst at 4, 2, and 2. They were also given the task of learning
a) the first 50 Coerver moves (there are 101) by the end of the season: #1-25 by December and #26-50 by May
b) 10 one-v-one moves
c) 10 turns and
d) inventing 3 moves of their own.

Because the first 45 minutes of every 1.5 hour practice was focused on these areas, my best player (who turned 9 in June 2017), hit 273 alternating feet, 80 right foot only and 28 left foot only. He know all his Coerver and 1v1 as they all did. My worst player hit 30 alternating 9 right foot and 8 left foot juggling.

My point behind all this is to say that a technical focus is CRITICAL at the younger ages AND DOES NOT NEED A UEFA A OR B. You only have to watch 5 minutes of a NPL or high school game to realize half our players have no technical training...and sorry...but starting to learn this stuff at the older age groups is too late.

Anyway - because "we have to start somewhere" I'd focus on the little ones and hope and pray that by the time they reach 11v11 we have our act together. It will be cheaper and more realistic than trying to run before we can even creep. If such a program shows promise, then we have time to move on to taking those coaches who started out with the lower level licenses up the food chain to progress with getting higher level licenses. It takes 5 years to get a UEFA A, so it's not far fetchd. Fi mi tuppance (if not 99 cents).

[Sir X]

Claffy I said this : To make my point clear fields are necessary but education is the priority ,i.e better qualified coaches !

That said , before you run up yuh mouth and i agree with most of what you said, if we were not under financial restraints ? ( WI BRUK)

My question to you and others like you who fail to factor in these financial restaints ,is why havent we "invest in both developing coaching talent and physical infrastructure" ? It seems you jokers are making assumptions ( Hi OJ) Wi Rich or we have money hidden somewhere !

When you answer that Claffy , then answer which one would you prioritise and why ?

It is essentail that we have in place Jamaican trained UEAFA A or B or PRO liscened coaches running our program.It will save us millions and be good for our programs/nations self esteeem .


Unnuh ead tuff boy !

[Assasin]

Get a few more Sandals etc. involved in the EPL and you won't have to beg government for fields and it take care of players welfare and too much ghetto management. Sandals, China habour, tank weld, Spanish hotels, Jamaica Producers, Bauxite companies can maintain their own field.

Jamaica has coaches education in place. It is not great, X fail to realize there is one. We have qualified coaches in Jackie Walters, Bradley Stewart, Andrew Edwards, Leebert Aliman, Freddy Butlter, Downswell, Dr. Donald Davis, the Doctor from Mobay to name a few plus resources in the diaspora we can draw from but what you need is coaches resources and mentors to make them better.

The kind of field is very important as well as too much half field "scrimmage" playing aimless football.

[Sir X]

Well folks there you have it.

Johnny has spoken

[Paul Marin]

Claffy I said this : To make my point clear fields are necessary but education is the priority ,i.e better qualified coaches !

That said , before you run up yuh mouth and i agree with most of what you said, if we were not under financial restraints ? ( WI BRUK)

My question to you and others like you who fail to factor in these financial restaints ,is why havent we "invest in both developing coaching talent and physical infrastructure" ? It seems you jokers are making assumptions ( Hi OJ) Wi Rich or we have money hidden somewhere !

When you answer that Claffy , then answer which one would you prioritise and why ?

It is essentail that we have in place Jamaican trained UEAFA A or B or PRO liscened coaches running our program.It will save us millions and be good for our programs/nations self esteeem .


Unnuh ead tuff boy !

Priority? LOL! I can't expect that you would know what that is. I clearly said - IT HAS TO BE BOTH. You can't have great coaches training players on fields tough like cement. It nah guh werk. Secondly, we are not SO BRUK that we don't have enough to get something started. Here is a great example of what is possible for fields: https://www.gofundme.com/alberts-jam...cer-field-fund

Secondly, you have no idea what you're talking about when you start to blabba about Uefa A and B licenses, much less Uefa Pro. Not just anybody can get those licenses - certainly not the UEFA Pro. Here in the US, you won't be able to get USSF B without completing a rigorous application/screening process. It is unlikely that they will give B or A licenses to anyone not fulltime in the coaching business at a Development Academy, college, or big club. It is simply NOT realistic for us to think we can get 100 coaches at that level in any near term time frame.

And last, you keep going on like we don't have good coaches in Jamaica. Wendell Downswell who runs our coaching program is no eedyat. I'm not sure what level he is at but I'm pretty sure it ain't no pya pya level. But I admit we don't appear to have enough FOCUSED ON THE YOUNGEST PLAYERS. While the JFF already has licensing requirements in place for NPL, high school and prep schools, I have no idea if they have any such requirements for the littlest players, nor am I sure how well enforced it is or how good is the curriculum. Just don't assume there is nothing happening.

At the end of the day...it is possible for us to "get there" from here, but it is a multi-pronged approach that requires education as well as physical infrastructure. We can't have one without the other, AND we need the right people doing it and the right focus on the YOUNGEST OF PLAYERS.