Jamaica: An Athletic Superpower, But a Football Joke.

Jamaica an island country located in the Caribbean Sea with a population of about 2.8 million people.

Now many around the world have sit and wondered how this little invisible nation on the map can become a “superpower” in the world of Athletics. It’s simple; it’s down to our fighting spirit, determination, hard work and of course the fact that Jamaicans are taught the basics about track and field from a very tender age.

With that being said they compete amongst and against each other from an early stage.

Examples:

1)    Sports days within the schools

2)    Basic School Champs

3)    Primary/Prep School Champs

4)    High School Champs

5)    Junior and Senior National Championships

6)    Regional and World Competitions

Now let’s journey over to the sport which is described as “the world’s greatest game” the “only sport” which is used to bring warring communities and nations together.

If you're still clueless as to which sport I am referring to, then the answer is “Football”. Historically, Jamaica has produced some of the most talented footballers on the face of the earth such as Lindy Delapenha, Allan Cole, Walter Boyd, Jermaine Johnson and Theodore Whitmore just to name a few.

But for various numbers of reasons the world has never seen the footballing talent that this island nation possesses.

Backtracking to 1998, Jamaica made history by becoming the first “English speaking country” in the Caribbean to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Final.

The Jamaican team supported by a proud nation wore its heart on its sleeve and pursued this dream through hard work and determination. Though they are known as “The Reggae Boyz” these men rose above all obstacles and mark their names in the history books forever.

Fast forward to 2013, the hopes of qualifying for another World Cup has quickly become a dream and though mathematically it is still possible to make it, the country finds itself stacked against the odds.

But let’s look at this:

1)    Have we really progressed much in our football development?

2)    Do we apply the same principle to football as we do athletics?

In answering the first question I must say to an extent we have progressed, we see more local players earning contracts across the world.

The ironic thing is, despite this large exportation of local talent we still decide to bring in a number of British/German born players.

Secondly the amount of time devoted to athletics I personally feel does not apply in the football circle.

I've heard many people describe our footballers as “late bloomers” and this hampers our development and progression on the world stage.

In the modern footballing world, development of young talent through academies or clubs is very important. Kids are enrolled from as early as the 5-10 learning the basics about this sport. Their talent is nurtured as they progress into stars and superstars.

Look at this:

1)    Zinedine Zidane signed for a club at age 8 but was playing since he was 5.

2)    Cristiano Ronaldo signed at 10 as well but was playing at 8 for an amateur club.

3)    Lionel Messi started at age 5 before moving to Barcelona at 11.

4)    Rooney joined Everton at age nine

Do I really need to say more? Our leaders over the years claimed to support sports yet they have failed in investing in youth development. We already have the land space and I'm pretty sure if we had a sporting academy the Ministry of Education could create a curriculum that would accommodate the different sporting disciplines as well as different subjects which are currently being offered in schools.

The failure of our Senior footballers begins with the lack of youth development. If we had taken sports seriously then we would have invested and there would be no need to “import” British born players.

We are now at a point where we have enough qualified coaches to groom these young minds, also this would create more jobs for teachers who are currently unemployed.

The truth is everybody cannot be a Usain Bolt or a Shelly-Ann Fraser, it’s time we search and produce our own Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordon and the list could go on and on.

Jamaica though small we are, we have achieved great things and the potential is there to be even greater. It’s time we move from the potential stage and advance above and beyond.

There is this theory that the British born players bring “professionalism” to the national team, if this is true then clearly they haven't brought anything else which shows why we are in such a precarious position.

Our local players are talented enough, we are physical enough, lets invest the time and energy in them, teach them the techniques and professionalism from a early age let them transition from the under 15s under 17s under 20s under 23s and finally the senior team. Mexico, Spain, Holland and Germany are prime examples of this method.

This should solve our aged old problem of our football failures. But who I am? Who will listen to my suggestion? Only time will reveal all. Mek we wait and see nuh!!!!

S.B. Stanberry