Massive crowd at DCup finals

[Sickko]

bigger than ant game day in the Digicel Cup tournament even when the Reggae Boyz were playing..the Guyanese FA president who was there with Captain Burrell was clearly impressed with the crowd as it was the biggest one he has seen at a football game since he was here.

In forcing the postponment of the game from last week, the JFF did our football a big dis-service.

If they were thinking of developing the game they could have simply incorporated the DCup finals in the football celebrations.

Imagine if they had invited all the visiting FA presidents etc and the MLS Scouts who were here to wtach the DCC to see the game and view the youngsters on parade.

If two or three of these players were invited to a MLS academy it would be worth it...these players could come back and in five six years force their way into a Reggae Boyz team or maybe even earn a decent living from the game.

Win win situation..but instead the JFF tried to force the fans to go see their games which for the most parts were maybe equal to what we see in our DPL here.

[Peter R]

What is "massive"? Quantify please? Thanks.

[Lazie]

This just proves how Jamaican football fans have a schoolboy mentality.

[Sickko]

You simply dont get it. Do some research, in Indiana, schoolboys basketball is bigger than even the Pacers but all the different entities have found a way to work together for the benefit of the game.

Boys and Girls Champs is big and the JAAA have found a way for it to work to their benefit.

Instead of bemoaning and trying to put it down, find ways of making it work for you.

Our football is still for the most parts amateur and the JFF need to spend more time at this level to develop the game.

The Under 21 league which i think has so much potential is left to die as no marketing is done and you have more officials at games than fans.

Coca-Cola sponsored it last year and it was to run three years but we hear the JFF switched the sponsorship to the Reggae Boyz this season.

Instead of trying to put down the fans and the culture, your attention should be focussed on the poor job the JFF is doing to develop football from the grass roots...or maybe they think they have a feeding tree in the English Legaues where they can go get third tier ballers.

[Me]

Lazie,

The people involved in our football are so caught up in their schoolboy memories that they will never understand that schoolboy football will have to take a backseat for our nations football to get ahead.

Track and field can work in the school system and has worked in the school sytem. Football has not.

[Sir X]

Siccko is right , in fact dead right, why not incoporate it with the Digi Cup , win win , scouts and crowds .

JFF screwed up again , and so what if Jamaica is a school boy football nation , good news it means they would support the youths , the question is what is wrong with the JFF incorporating it to maximising Jamaicas football potential on this particular occasion a triple header ?

[Peter R]

I have to agree with Sickko... High School is our equivalent to "college" in the US in terms of fan appeal. Big big man from Prime Minister to street vendor are supporting a High School even if they didn't attend it. This is true of T&T as well. The HS games draw bigger crowds than the Pro League.

Any Pro league team might do well to play double headers with the HS teams, or find some way to work with the league that has mass appeal without any marketing whatsoever.

That appeal is too big to ignore...use it.

[Hortical]

I did not go to an NPL game until I was an adult and we should cherish the support school boy football has in Jamaica. Much more needs to be done to make NPL football more attractive and family friendly.

[Stonigut]

Brilliant idea Sickko. that makes a helluva a lot of sense.

[Lazie]

No wonder we're being left behind. Still caught up wid schoolboy antics. I guess I'm not too much into the tradition. How has schoolboy football moved us forward recently? We keep doing the same thing and expect the results to change .. sheer madness.

T&A is basically an individual event .. football is an entirely different beast. How many schoolboy stars have failed to shine at the int'l level? No .. the fans hype dem up mek dem tink dem reach and when the time come to play real competition ... well .. when last we mek the hex? Now we proud that a meaningless schoolboy game drew more crowd than the international competition? We simply duh things the wrong way.

[Mosiah]

And if we weren't supporting the youths, yuh woulda hear how the youth is the foundation and we need to support them, blah, blah, blah...

[Assasin]

Jamaica nu serious bout football. What them need fi do is get the proper requirement in place for our youths to be successful.

Groom the youths for success.
That includes them getting their SAT scores and O level or CXC.
Linking up with top Divison one college ( These college scholarship at places like UCONN, St. Johns, Wake Forest, Duke etc. is better than an A league or MLS academy. We have seen that with Damani Ralph, Dane Richards, Omar Cummings, Tyrone Marshall, Andy Williams etc. Very few players come up through the MLS academy so far with Altidore as the best so far. Check out the college draft as see how many Wake Forest, UCONN and Duke players are in it.

Academic help to get SAT score and as much exam as they can.

Have showcases and invite college coaches and team scouts from pro teams all around on an annual basis. Not just one or two teams but have at least 6 regional teams.

Get player profile ready to shop a player. What has the player accomplished, what are his strenght and provide video tapes etc. It is easier to sell a player with that ready.

Jamaica shouldn't be ranked below 70 on the FIFA chart. We have the ability to be ranked higher and we shouldn't accept less.

When either ISSA or the JFF serious unnu can wake me. We can chat all we want the two organization nuh really want much to do with each other, based on my little idiotic knowledge, one is an organization of educated elite and the other is seen as a street organization and very rare they mix, Just like NCAA in the US will not give up an inch of control to any sport governing body in the US.

If the goal is to be seen by scouts, how many top players you think is at a DCUP finals?

[Mosiah]

Fuller, Gardner, Phillips, Ricketts, Dane Richards, Shavar, etc. all did well at high school football. So how do you ask, how has high school football moved us forward?!?

[Mosiah]

Scouts watch Ja. schoolboy football right throughout the season.

[Hortical]

A comprehensive plan is needed for ballers who have the academics to develop their skills at American colleges, and also those who lack the academic background to work on enhancing their football talent. Most I would assume do not have the academic background to be considered for American colleges and another approach is needed to tap into that talent pool. It is well noted that the NPL lacks coaches who have the wherewithal to be effective teachers.