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Wrong move, JFF
Wrong move, JFF
On the sporting edge
Paul Reid
Thursday, December 11, 2008
If there are no other interruptions, the ISSA/Pepsi/ Digicel daCosta Cup final between first-time finalists St James High and Spalding High will be played at Jarrett Park this Saturday, a week later than it was originally scheduled.
Both teams were forced to wait an extra week following the playing of the semi-finals on November 29 after the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) strong-armed ISSA into pushing the game back a week to facilitate the staging of the Caribbean Football Union's Digicel Caribbean Cup games in western Jamaica.
YIPPEE! St James High striker Allan Ottey seen here celebrating after scoring against Lacovia High in the semi-finals, will lead the Montego Bay school in the finals of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup competition on Saturday at Jarrett Park. (Photo: Paul Reid)
According to one highly placed JFF Official the contract signed by the host Federation included a clause that no major football final be played anywhere in the country during the competition.
If the JFF willingly agreed to such a clause then it speaks to an ignorance of the Jamaican football demographic or a complete disregard for it.
My gut feeling tells me that the JFF was simply trying to force football fans to pay to see games that really had very little if any appeal to the local football population.
Who would pay good money to go see at best third-rate Barbados or Antigua or a second string Trinidad and Tobago team play?
I can't see any of the over 5,000 fans who will attend Jarrett Park on Saturday, seriously considering whether to go see the daCosta Cup final or the double header that was played at the Trelawny Multi-purpose stadium last Saturday.
Fans of schoolboys' football are not necessarily fans of even the JFF Premier League. While a mother, sister, girlfriend or neighbour will give up a few hours on a Saturday afternoon to go see their favourite schoolboy football player in action it is less likely they will go to see their neighbourhood team play on a Sunday.
There is a limited number of die-hard Reggae Boyz fans who will pay to go see them play but the numbers that will go see Cuba vs Antigua and Barbuda and Guadeloupe vs Haiti is maybe less than 20.
On Monday night at Jarrett Park, I saw people with tickets that they could not even give away as nobody wanted to see those games.
Neither can I buy the explanation that the daCosta Cup final game could not be played because of the hosting of an international tournament. It has happened before.
Not so long ago a decent crowd came out to watch Jamaica beat some hapless eastern Caribbean team in the second game of a Digicel Caribbean Cup double header at Jarrett Park on a Friday night.
The next day Jarrett Park was filled from one corner to the next for the daCosta Cup finals at the same venue.
As a consequence of the delay, three of the island top schoolboys football teams will have suffered in that they had to wait an extended period between games.
The daCosta Cup finalists had a two weeks break while Manning Cup champions St George's College has a three and a half week break before playing the first leg of the Olivier Shield.
If the JFF's mandate is to foster the improvement of football at all levels they must be cognisant of the schoolboys football and what it brings to the table.
In forcing the postponement of the daCosta Cup finals, the JFF also missed a wonderful opportunity to showcase the next set of football stars. I am sure that the US Major League scouts who were in the island and others would have seen at least the equivalent of the quality at Jarrett Park as there was on show at the Trelawny venue on Saturday.
On the sporting edge
Paul Reid
Thursday, December 11, 2008
If there are no other interruptions, the ISSA/Pepsi/ Digicel daCosta Cup final between first-time finalists St James High and Spalding High will be played at Jarrett Park this Saturday, a week later than it was originally scheduled.
Both teams were forced to wait an extra week following the playing of the semi-finals on November 29 after the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) strong-armed ISSA into pushing the game back a week to facilitate the staging of the Caribbean Football Union's Digicel Caribbean Cup games in western Jamaica.
YIPPEE! St James High striker Allan Ottey seen here celebrating after scoring against Lacovia High in the semi-finals, will lead the Montego Bay school in the finals of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup competition on Saturday at Jarrett Park. (Photo: Paul Reid)
According to one highly placed JFF Official the contract signed by the host Federation included a clause that no major football final be played anywhere in the country during the competition.
If the JFF willingly agreed to such a clause then it speaks to an ignorance of the Jamaican football demographic or a complete disregard for it.
My gut feeling tells me that the JFF was simply trying to force football fans to pay to see games that really had very little if any appeal to the local football population.
Who would pay good money to go see at best third-rate Barbados or Antigua or a second string Trinidad and Tobago team play?
I can't see any of the over 5,000 fans who will attend Jarrett Park on Saturday, seriously considering whether to go see the daCosta Cup final or the double header that was played at the Trelawny Multi-purpose stadium last Saturday.
Fans of schoolboys' football are not necessarily fans of even the JFF Premier League. While a mother, sister, girlfriend or neighbour will give up a few hours on a Saturday afternoon to go see their favourite schoolboy football player in action it is less likely they will go to see their neighbourhood team play on a Sunday.
There is a limited number of die-hard Reggae Boyz fans who will pay to go see them play but the numbers that will go see Cuba vs Antigua and Barbuda and Guadeloupe vs Haiti is maybe less than 20.
On Monday night at Jarrett Park, I saw people with tickets that they could not even give away as nobody wanted to see those games.
Neither can I buy the explanation that the daCosta Cup final game could not be played because of the hosting of an international tournament. It has happened before.
Not so long ago a decent crowd came out to watch Jamaica beat some hapless eastern Caribbean team in the second game of a Digicel Caribbean Cup double header at Jarrett Park on a Friday night.
The next day Jarrett Park was filled from one corner to the next for the daCosta Cup finals at the same venue.
As a consequence of the delay, three of the island top schoolboys football teams will have suffered in that they had to wait an extended period between games.
The daCosta Cup finalists had a two weeks break while Manning Cup champions St George's College has a three and a half week break before playing the first leg of the Olivier Shield.
If the JFF's mandate is to foster the improvement of football at all levels they must be cognisant of the schoolboys football and what it brings to the table.
In forcing the postponement of the daCosta Cup finals, the JFF also missed a wonderful opportunity to showcase the next set of football stars. I am sure that the US Major League scouts who were in the island and others would have seen at least the equivalent of the quality at Jarrett Park as there was on show at the Trelawny venue on Saturday.