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‘It is a good day’

National call-ups a major win for Mount Pleasant Academy

Published:Sunday | March 23, 2025 | 9:54 PMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
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Mount Pleasant sporting director, Paul Christie.
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Mount Pleasant sporting director, Paul Christie.
Mount Pleasant skipper Sue-Lae McCalla, one of five players from the club to receive call-ups to the Reggae Boyz squad this international window, makes a pass during an international friendly against Trinidad and Tobago at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on
Ashley Anguin
Mount Pleasant skipper Sue-Lae McCalla, one of five players from the club to receive call-ups to the Reggae Boyz squad this international window, makes a pass during an international friendly against Trinidad and Tobago at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on February 6.
Jahshaun Anglin
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Jahshaun Anglin
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MOUNT PLEASANT Football Academy sporting director Paul Christie believes national call-ups for seven of his club’s players to various national teams vindicates the institution’s commitment to developing Caribbean players.

“It is a good day for the people of St Ann, our fanbase at large and the ownership of Mount Pleasant Football Academy,” Christie told The Gleaner.

Of the seven players selected, five – club captain Sue-Lae McCalla, Shaquan Davis, Fitzroy Cummings, Kyle Ming, and Jahshaun Anglin – will represent Jamaica in their Gold Cup preliminary fixture against St Vncent and the Grenadines.

Melvin Doxilly has also been called up for the St Lucian national team while 15-year-old academy player Emerson Laisse has received his first senior call-up for Haiti in their international friendly against Azerbaijan.

Christie said the call-ups represent a massive validation of the work being done at the club in developing top players in the region.

He also said this is a continuing trend for Mount Pleasant as they also saw nine of their youth players being called up for the recent U17 World Cup qualifiers last month.

“The organisation as a whole, the ownership and the technical staff at Mount Pleasant feels validated in the sense that our work has been recognised,” he said.

“Though we have five Jamaicans being selected by the JFF, we also have Melvin Doxilly, the St Lucian captain, and a 15-year-old, who will be making his debut for Haiti.”

He continued, “Mount Pleasant would have fielded a total of nine youth players for the various U17 World Cup qualifying squads, so we would have felt elated about that. In addition to that now, we have seven in total being selected at the senior level.”

Christie said these national call-ups have also aligned with the club’s objective of being the place of choice for several of the regional top talents.

Though competing in the local Wray and Nephew-sponsored Jamaica Premier League (JPL), Christie said their operations will not be limited by the country’s borders.

“What we are doing at Mount Pleasant is that we’re trying to create a central hub to develop talents in the region so that our region is more competitive at the world stage,” he explained.

“We’re based in Jamaica but we’re not limited to just Jamaica as we’re looking at Caribbean and Central American talents.”

“We have talents from Belize, El Salvador, and Trinidad, to name a few, that are inquiring to be a part of our academy as we speak so the results of the product is at work and people are realising that the number-one location to develop talent in the Caribbean will continue to be at mount Pleasant.”

Jamaica will face off against St Vincent and the Grenadines in a two-legged fixture with the first leg away on March 21 before the return home-leg at Sabina Park on March 25.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com