U17s to miss practice match opportunity

• Reid says external exams rule out Canada invitation for World Cup-bound team

Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's World Cup bound national under-17 football team, in need of quality practice games, has been forced to decline an offer to play fellow qualifiers Canada - in the United States (US) later this month - citing commitment to upcoming examinations for the Young Boyz.

However, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) said it is planning a camp in Mexico, host of the World Cup, for next month. Details of that trip are scheduled to be announced on Thursday, according to JFF general secretary Horace Reid.

The World Cup begins June 18 and ends July 10.

The Canadians are expected to arrive in the US for a pre-World Cup camp later this week in Sunrise, Florida. But efforts to arrange for Jamaica to travel to the US to play Canada, and possibly other teams, were shelved after the JFF said several of the young Boyz would be sitting external and internal examinations including CXC, during that time.

"The JFF had previously advised the country of the challenges in scheduling international fixture during the period May 3 to June 7, given the fact that a number of our players are sitting external and internal examinations and would need to be physically present in Jamaica to sit these exams," Reid explained in an email response to questions about possible plans for Jamaica to travel to the US for games against Canada.

Reid also repeated a claim made earlier by the JFF that a camp in Spain had to be cancelled due to lack of funds. That trip would have allowed the under-17s to depart Jamaica in late April but return to the island in time for exams. He noted the trip would have cost approximately $8 million, but "this did not materialise as the JFF could not come up with the funds".

"No support has been forthcoming from the Government, despite nice whispers in our ear in Montego Bay when we qualified for the U17 WC," he added.

Reid said the JFF also had to seek the help of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association "to have internal examinations rescheduled on the return of the team from the World Cup".

could have been worse

Without that arrangement, he added, "matters could have been more complicated and compromising".

The Sunrise venue has been a regular base for Jamaica's national teams, which have made the roughly 90-minute flight for international games and camps. If the offer to the under-17s had been accepted, the Boyz would have had the option to play multiple closed-door games.

Canada, as part of a similar camp at the same location last year to prepare for World Cup qualifiers, travelled to Jamaica for two practice games against the under-17 Boyz in Montego Bay. The visitors won the first match 4-2 on October 31, but lost the second 1-0 on November 2.

The JFF said it is reviewing a similar arrangement. A decision is expected by today.

"We have been looking at the schedule to see how to make this possible given the sitting of exams and mandatory study periods of the players and the limited time available to the technical staff for the physical and tactical preparation of the team," Reid noted. "A decision will be made by Tuesday (May 17)."

Canada recently returned from a training camp in Mexico. Reid stated that Jamaica is planning its pre-World Cup camp for the city of Toluca.

Jamaica participated in a six-week camp in Brazil prior to the final round of CONCACAF qualifiers, which were staged February in Montego Bay. The young Boyz, along with Canada, Mexico, Panama and the US, will represent CONCACAF at the World Cup.

Since the qualifiers, Jamaica have been engaged in practice games against local teams. The under-17s were recently entered in Claro/KSAFA's under-20 league to maintain their competitive edge.

Jamaica previously qualified for the under-17 World Cup in 1999, one of three national teams to make it to the final round of a global football tournament. The senior team reached the 1998 World Cup, while the under-20s qualified for the 2001 tournament.