Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
JFF president Crenston Boxhill (left) in discussion with technical director Wendell Downswell at its Press Conference at the JFF headquarters yesterday. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A CONFIDENT Jamaica Under-21 football team will leave the island tomorrow for the qualifying round of the Central and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Suriname.
Jamaica will tackle Dominica Republic on April 7 before playing host country Suriname two days later on April 9.
Crenston Boxhill, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), is very confident that the team will advance to the CAC Games.
"Many of the players have been playing for their premier league clubs and have been in camp almost on a weekly basis since January," Boxhill said at a press conference at the newly-painted JFF's Secretariat in New Kingston yesterday.
"We are pretty confident, therefore with their level of preparation we expect to qualify for the CAC Games," he added.
Jamaica are drawn in Group 5 and will play their games at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium in Paramaribo.
The Caribbean qualifying takes the form of five groups of three teams to play on a round-robin basis, from March 29-April 20, with each group winner qualifying to the CAC Games from July 16-29.
The four winners of the Central American home-and-away series will progress along with the five Caribbean teams to the CAC Games, where they will be joined by the U-21 teams of Mexico, Venezuela and the host, Colombia.
A strong 18-man squad was announced by Wendell Downswell, JFF's technical director, which included four schoolboys in goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr of Mannings High, Shaun Francis and Carnell Learmond of Glenmuir and Omroy Wilson of Cornwall College.
The squad also includes oversees-based Akeem Priestly and Obrian White of the University of Connecticut in the USA. Nathan Koo-Boothe of Watford, England and Jermain Hollis of Hucknall in the Conference league in England.
The prolific but injured Luton Shelton is unavailable, having just secured a loan contract with Swedish club Helsingborgs IF.
Five players are on standby in Lance Dacosta (Waterhouse), Ryan Thompson (Harbour View), Seon Givens (Sporting Central), Dwayne Jumpp (Wadadah) and Jeff Pearce of Village United.
A confident Downswell is looking beyond the qualifiers and is looking to create history by bringing home a medal from the CAC Games in July.
"For the CAC Games we have never medaled and our ultimate goal is to medal," he said.
"Recently we went to Bermuda for two games and a number of the senior players were not available but we got the opportunity to look at a number of fresh players and our technical staff was pleased with the performances," he added.
Squad: Ralston Robinson, Duwayne Kerr, Jermaine Taylor, Nicholy Finlayson, Adrian Reid, Keneil Moodie, Shaun Francis, Mario Harrison, Omroy Wilson, Jermaine Hollis, Nathan Koo-Boothe, Rafe Wolfe, Obrian White, Akeem Priestly, Richard West, Horace Howell, Steven Morrissey and Carnell Leamond.
