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
