Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
Jamaica Football Federation president Crenston Boxhill (left), members of the national Under-20 football team, team officials and sponsors gather at a congratulatory luncheon dubbed 'Salute the Boyz'. The event was hosted at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel yesterday to honour the team for its silver-medal finish at the Pan American Games.

LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Crenston Boxhill rattled his mind briefly in deciding which meant more to his administration: the senior Caribbean Championship victory in 2005 or the recent silver medal earned by the Under-20 team at the Pan American Games.

His beleaguered administration, and Boxhill in particular, have gone through tough criticisms since November 2003 when he took office.

With each failure for a World Cup, the Boxhill administration has been castigated in public, particularly with the previous administration qualifying three male teams for a World Cup.

Though the nation's football achievements under his administration aren't as impressive as those gone by, Boxhill has some resolve because, he says, he has stuck to his objectives.

"After failure in the World Cup qualifiers in 2004, we decided to use young, local-based players and did that successfully and won the Caribbean Cup," recalled Boxhill.

He added: "We have been preaching from day one about our youth programme and for the Under-20 team to create the history they did, this one is a bit more significant."

Boxhill was speaking with The Gleaner at yesterday's luncheon for the Under-20 team at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. The silver medal they won at the Pan Am Games was a first for any football team and they are the first national team to reach the semi-final or final at any international event.

They also beat some noted countries in the tournament, which included Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Their only loss was a 1-2 result to Ecuador in the final.

Jamaica also had the best goalkeeper of the tournament, Dwayne Kerr, who conceded one goal, and the top goalscorer, Keammar Daley, who netted four times.

With JFF elections three months away, Boxhill didn't waste any time to point out that this is what he had in mind when he proposed his manifesto, which stressed youth development, in 2003.

"I am of the unreserved opinion that the team here today is a product of my vision and I am very proud of that," said Boxhill.

"This is no fluke or luck. This is a result of a conscious and direct policy that has had youth development at the centre of it."

Boxhill may not have much longer to fulfil his manifesto as he may be replaced in the November elections. His main challenger is expected to be former president, Captain Horace Burrell.

Division

Boxhill said more than the upcoming elections, what occupies his mind most is the division within the football fraternity with some delegates supporting him and others Burrell.

"If we were united I am certain that what we are seeing here, we would have achieved much more like it," said Boxhill. "The division in the administration occupies my mind more than the elections."

Quizzed if he would be using the Under-20 team's achievements as a trump card to sway delegates, Boxhill responded: "It is possible (but) the manifesto is there to see if we have deviated from it or we are on track."

Still, the president admits that he has begun some groundwork for the elections.

"I have given a lot of thought to it (election)," he admitted. "As to what exactly my plans are as it relates to the strategies and all of that, as time unfolds my plans will unfold also."