Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
PLANS PERTAINING primarily to the FIFA Goal Project, Gold Cup and youth development were outlined by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) yesterday as part of its pro-active approach to advance the sport.
Much of it includes marketing and, speaking at a $2,000-a-plate luncheon it hosted at Terra Nova Hotel yesterday afternoon, the federation's president, Crenston Boxhill, said: "What we really hope to do today is to connect well with our existing sponsors and hopefully gain new ones".
Boxhill also said the federation was now"... approaching the acquisition of money differently ... we will not be going to Corporate Jamaica asking for every dollar of that amount ... we want to demonstrate that we are doing tangible things to help ourselves."
Contending that they had "gotten past the recriminations of the failure last year to reach the final round of World Cup qualification", he then summed up the JFF's strategy in a six-point game plan:
1. The continued reshaping of the national senior team to reflect a clear process of transition for youth teams and local players.
2. To use recent Caribbean success as a launching pad to rebuild the marketability of teams.
3. Initiate profit-making ventures (not necessarily involving football) that can help fund administrative expenses.
4. To deliver on promises to revamp the structures, competitions and support programmes that presently exist at both the parish and Confed level as the youth arm of the sport.
5. To begin the first phase of the construction of the proposed FIFA GOAL Project on lands identified at Munro in Malvern by the end of September.
6. To beef up the marketing and PR support for all programmes and engagements.
The JFF now needs $12 million to participate in the Gold Cup in July.
"Participation in this competition is very important for the continued progress of our senior national team. A solid performance will go a far way in marketing the team and very importantly, heralding for us, a return to profitable international games both here and abroad," Boxhill predicted.
The JFF is looking to field a team in a four-nation tournament - the Unity Cup - in England in May. Jamaica played in that tournament last year alongside Nigeria and Ireland and Boxhill said "... we are keen to take up this opportunity as soon as the organisers are ready".
He said they took a "bold decision" in choosing to Digicel Cup squad, adding that "in the next two years we want to develop squads that can demonstrate meaningful transition".
Pointing to the American model, Boxhill said the goal was to develop all youth programmes as a separate arm of the federation and it would meet with ISSA, INSPORTS and the Primary and Prep schools league administrators within three months to discuss implementing such a system by next year.
They will also run specialised courses for youth coaches with a view to having certification seminars for 'elite youth coaches' between September and December.
A most radical change in youth competitions will affect the JFF Under-21 league, which Boxhill says will no longer be teamed with, or confined to Premier League clubs. He explained that only four parishes were now represented in the Premier League and starting January, parishes without Premier League teams will be allowed to enter one side. Referring to another big scheme, the Goal Project in which FIFA allocates US$400,000, Boxhill stated that it is "perfectly safe".
He called the FIFA GOAL Project "an important aspect of our youth development programme and confirmed what had been carried in an earlier Gleaner report that "it will definitely be at Munro (College)", in Malvern, St. Elizabeth.
RED STRIPE CHAMPIONS CUP KO MATCHES
(Today's games)
| Rivoli vs Wadadah | | Prison Oval (4:30 p.m.) |
| Boys' Town vs Waterhouse | | Boys' Town (3:00 p.m.) |
| Sandy Bay vs Village | | Kenilworth (3:00 p.m.) |
| Harbour View vs St George's | | Harbour View (7:00 p.m.) |
