Who was it that said we had 25

[Lazie]

Adus in Jamaica? Can they please tell us how many Jozy we have? 19 year old a score hattrick inna world cup qualifer ... our football fraternity still stuck pon school boy football. kiss teet!

[Assasin]

So you now confirm that we have 25 Adus? What has Freddy been up to lately?


Altidore is talent but sometimes you must realise that there is talent in Ja as well. I remember when you use to tell me we can't compare Jamaica with United. Can't compare our players with top class players from your favorite big club, now all that myth is gone with players like Fuller, Bibi, Austin, Shelton etc playing in very good leagues.

Mark my word that a young Jamaica player is going to sign with a decent club this year.

How many Americans starting for their teams in Europe and scoring on a regular basis? Only Mike Bradley.

[Me]

Many of of players have potential however most of them are technically or tactically awful, as a result most of them will struggle at the highest level.

[Pbanta]

I'm sure that could happen in 2010. The futre could be much brighter. Have a read of the below.

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KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO
Jackie Bell K.O. Award Presentation
March 26, 2009, Grace Kennedy Building, Kingston, Jamaica
Good evening everyone.

Russell Bell

Let me first thank the KSAFA, a body of which I am a Life Member, for inviting me to give the keynote address to the outstanding performers in this season’s Jackie Bell K.O. competition. My congratulations to Tivoli Gardens for emerging champions and to the Duhaney Park, Meadhaven and Harbour View for making it to the top four.

I will start this presentation by throwing out a challenge to the four teams here tonight to be awarded medals, Duhaney Park, Harbour View, Tivoli Gardens and Meadhaven: Let us see which club can identify the past national players shown on the screen.


Today, I want to speak a little about the spirit of my brother Jackie but more about the role he would want me to play this evening in making this address. First, however, I must thank you all here as you continue to honour his memory and, more generally, the memory of the six Bell brothers (Jackie, Vernon, Russell, Howard, Neville and Douglas) who have represented this country at football.

Three personal qualities separated Jackie from the mass of his peers. First, he was a passionate fighter for what he loved and believed in. Secondly, he was incurably infected with an unconditional love for football - one that made him cut short a potentially outstanding academic career. Thirdly, he was determined to make a living through his involvement in football and more generally sports.

Two Basic Points
This evening, I think, that he would want me to share two basic points with you;
The first is that, for too long now, in the preparation of our national teams, we have not been using our experience to our advantage. In fact, one could say that we seem to be trying to re-invent the wheel.
Where is the evidence for this? In such a short presentation, I cannot go into the details as I would like but let us look at a few facts in the history of our national preparation programme.

Jamaica’s Peformance against Mexico.
The Date: 28 March 1963 (Concacaf Finals – El Salvador)
The Game: Mexico vs Jamaica
The Score 8 – 0

The Date: 7th May 1965 (Mexico, World Cup Eliminations)
The Game: Mexico vs Jamaica
The Score 8 – 0

Comments from the players
“The climate affected us.”

Comments from the head of the delegation to Mexico, Norman Hill:
“Jamaica needed more time to get acclimatized… International football is war... Jamaica need to change their outlook on football; the experience gained on this tour will contribute a lot to the development of the game to good international standards”

Comments from coach Jorge Penna
“The experience has done the team well, now they know what it is like to play in the world cup.”

TEN YEARS LATER
The Date: April 7, 1975
The Game: Mexico vs Jamaica
The Score: 8 – 0

Comments from the players
“The climate affected us.”

Comments from manager George Prescod
“Our players (need) …to show a little more self discipline. The JFF will have to take a long look at doing some re-structuring of the squad in the light of the lessons learnt on this tour”

Comments from coach Otmar Calder
“The boys have learnt a lot from the exposure...the team has learned a lot as to what is needed in international competition.”

TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATER
The Date April 13, 1997
The Game Mexico vs Jamaica
The Score 6 – 0

The Headline of the April 14 1997 Gleaner report of the match said it all.
Jamaica Thrashed 6 – 0 in World Cup Qualifier
MASSACRE IN MEXICO
According to the Gleaner report:
Coach Simoes blamed the loss on “instructions not being followed and the experience of the Mexicans”

The facts noted above are not the only ones that could be used to demonstrate our insufficient use of our experience. We could also give examples of our experiences with foreign national coaches conducting coaching clinics, or local coaches forming coaches associations, or the formation of a domestic professional league, and more and we would see the same pattern – insufficient use of or learning from our experiences.

Why are we not learning from our experience?
The explanation for this can be dealt with at different levels and from different perspectives. One important reason for this consistent repeating of failures, however, is the fact that the Jamaicans who have the experience of these events and who have the required expertise to avoid their recurrence, have not been involved in any meaningful and decisive way in these programmes. The coaches in charge, whether they are foreign nationals or Jamaicans, if they do not have the experience will all start over from the foot of the learning curve .

This is certainly an important reason for our excellent Under 20 squad’s failure to qualify in the recent world cup qualifying tournament that we were apparently destined to win.

Of course, this begs the question, why are the Jamaicans with proven expertise shunned? - a question which needs to be answered but one which will require a much longer time and a different audience to be addressed properly.

Resource Allocation
The second basic point that I would like to share with you is that we need to ensure that the same resources are made available to the coaches of our national teams regardless of who they are, Jamaican or non-Jamaican.

Even though many of us think that the disparity in treatment between Jamaican and non-Jamaican coaches is a recent occurrence, it is a long-standing problem and, in fact, is much less of a problem today than it was in previous years. Let us look at this situation in a historical context.

Political independence in August 1962 was an important milestone for Jamaicans as a nation as it brought political freedom from the British colonial empire. It had, however, a special significance for the Jamaican sporting fraternity in general and football fraternity in particular.

The completion of our first and only National Stadium coincided with political independence and for the first time we hosted an international Games when the IX Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Kingston between August 15 and August 28, 1962

The organizers of the Games gave the Jamaica Football Association (the forerunner to the Jamaica Football Federation) a gift as they employed, for the first time, a foreign national, Brazilian Jorge Penna, as coach of our team for these Games.

Jackie, by the way, played in every game in this tournament.

After these Games, the JFA, for the first time, made contact with organized international football. That is, Jamaica, for the first time, started to participate consistently in the CAC Games, the Pan AM Games and the CONCACAF/World Cup eliminations. Jackie was a member of the first team in the new era of international football.

After the IX CAC Games, Penna’s contract was not renewed by the JFA whose official explanation was that his inability to speak English was too great a hindrance to have him continue, as, among other things, he could not impart his knowledge to local coaches. A more popular view, however, was that Penna would tolerate absolute no intervention in his programme.

In fact, Neville Glanville, who represented Jamaica under Penna told me that once the Prime Minister of Jamaica came to the dressing room just before a game to speak with the players and Penna refused to allow him entry.

Haitian professional footballer, Antoine Tassy, replaced Penna as the coach of the national football team. After spending a year with the national teams, differences emerged with the JFA, and he was asked to leave in March 1964. Penna was recalled in January 1965 and remained for just under three years as the coach of our national teams.

With Penna at the helm, the preparation of our national team went to a new level. For the first time

• the national team was consistently involved in friendly international matches
• our national players were treated as celebrities
• our national players were housed together for weeks (at Newcastle and elsewhere)
• employers of national players were told that representing their country should be given priority over performing their duties at work – hence, players were expected to get time off with pay when preparing to represent the country
• the government, through the Minister of Development and Welfare, Mr. Edward Seaga, actively supported the programme financially and otherwise.

Then Penna left. In this period, the USA was starting a professional soccer league and, with Penna leaving, the bulk of our players left Jamaica in search of employment in this league.

George Thompson
A Jamaican who had played under Penna and who had been very successful with a schoolboy football team, the legendary 1965 KC team led by Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris, was appointed coach. Thompson met a listless JFF. Here is a glimpse at how George was treated.

• for a long time the national team was allowed to use the Stadium field only once per week
• George had to write personally to friends and businessmen seeking assistance in diet and housing for some players
• George and his squad had to organize a party in order to pay for weight training sessions
• on one occasion the national squad was locked inside the stadium and had to climb the walls to get out
• the JFF decided to play all their home matches away even though the record clearly showed that we did significantly better at home

And we could add more to this but the point should be clear.
So with a weakened player base with little or no financial or moral support, George T, as he was affectionately called, was asked to prepare a national team for the same level competition as Penna. To be accurate, one must add here that George T himself had a reluctance to use overseas players who had expressed a willingness to return to the national squad.

Yet, it was under George T that Jamaica was to beat Mexico for the first time when on 7 May 1972 at the National Stadium we won 1-0 through a Leonard Mason goal. And it was under George T that we drew with a West Germany team that included seven players who played on the winning 1972 West Germany World Cup team.

It is important to note that George T’s experience was only one of several cases where Jamaican technical football personnel have excelled despite limited support and resources. Time allows me to mention only a few.

1. On February 23 1963, Jamaica beat Haiti for the first time in 10 years, under coaches Jamaican Leighton Duncan and Derrick Tomkinson again, like George T, with minimal support. A victory against Haiti had eluded Jorge Penna in 1962 where the teams met several times.
2. Neville Glanville and Bradley Stewart’s national juvenile squad of 1979/80 is considered by many to be one of the best-prepared teams ever to leave Jamaica. In a tournament in which teams from Trinidad, Canada and the USA came for advice from our coaches, Jamaica outdid their opponents but did not qualify for two main reasons. First, blatantly corrupt refereeing and a heat wave in Texas that forced the coaching panel to be overly cautious in fear of potential harm to players. The preparation of this team was a truly national effort. Bradley and Neville drew on the expertise of several Jamaicans in designing a programme that saw every player except one having pulse rates in the 40s. These Jamaicans included Jamaica’s first sprint world record holder, Dennis Johnson, Dr. Herb Elliot, Foggy Burrowes, Dr. Winston Dawes, Dr. Paul Wright and others.

Support for this tournament came from the efforts of the coaching and management staff as no funds were available from the government. Grace Kennedy made a significant input in the preparation of this team.

In fact, it is generally felt by those in the know that the unconscionable expulsion of Jamaica from the World Cup a few years later under the guise of Jamaica failing to pay FIFA dues was based on a fear of the Jamaica team that was phenomenal in this tournament. The fact was that FIFA actually owed the JFF more money than the registration fee and this should have been used to cover the payment they required.

1. Several outstanding national players were introduced to the game formally as youngsters by Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris. After winning the Major League as player/coach at Harbour View Trevor made a conscious decision to focus on the primary and prep school players. From Trevor’s work at Vaz Prep, and as coach of both All Primary and All Prep teams came players like Sean Frazer, Andre Virtue, Jamal Greene, Wolde Harris (Trevor’s son), Akeem Priestley, Howard Wong, Fabian Davis, Tyrone Marshall and several others. All of this was achieved thorough Trevor’s personal effort.
2. Lebert Halliman, has a track record of excellence in coaching not only locally but in his first assignment as national youth coach he won the Caribbean leg of the qualifying round of the world cup in. Those who know Halliman know that he is indeed a knowledgeable and tactically sound coach. Yet he was removed from the post of national coach.

So, as I mentioned earlier, the disparity in the treatment of coaches that we now see is a truly longstanding problem. And, while it is in fact not as bad today as it was in the past, there is an urgent need to level the playfield for all coaches of our national team as was displayed in the recent world cup eliminations where Bradley and Theodore outdid Simoes but certainly were not treated and remunerated in the same way – not to mention that they were replaced by John Barnes, someone whom I respect, but who has little experience at this level.

Why then are those with expertise marginalized or not involved?
There are two popular explanations given for this. One is that those in the private sector who are willing to put funds in football have a bias against Jamaican coaches. Assuming that this is true, I would strongly suggest that we provide comparative statistics to these individuals showing the performance of Jamaican vs non-Jamaican coaches. I also think that we need to provide the same level of public relations or hype for all coaches. On what basis do we label one coach Professor while another with similar training and experience has no label?

My feeling is that no one would prefer a weak coach to a strong coach, no matter his nationality. Maybe I am naive, but I cannot see someone refusing to fund a national football programme in which a coach of proven worth is in charge but at the same time giving money to a programme in which a less knowledgeable and experienced coach is at the helm.

The second popular explanation given for the marginalization or exclusion of Jamaican expertise is that the politics of the sport requires suboptimal resource allocation. That is, affiliate clubs and associations do not vote based on an objective analysis of the situation and what is best for the sport as a whole but on how they can benefit from the measures proposed. This, of course, is an issue that requires much more time than a brief presentation can afford. I would suggest, however, that, if this is true, then the Executive Committee of the JFF such address it as a matter of urgency. So too, should all Executive Committees of all the affiliates of the JFF.

While these two explanations are the more popular ones, there are others that we do not have the time to discuss.

Summary
In summary, those of us who are aware of the history of this great sport in Jamaica recognize the obvious advances that have occurred in the sport since 1962 when we entered the organized international arena for the first time. We, however, believe that non-technical barriers are now preventing the country from realizing its full potential. One of the more pressing barriers is the consistent failure to use our experience in preparing for new tournament, hence our perpetual talk of ‘now we know…” or “now we have the experience” after we have been eliminated.

A second barrier is the failure to make resources available to our national coaches on a consistent basis regardless of their nationality.
In 1991, in the editorial of Issue #5 of the Sports Focus magazine, I wrote:
“If we improve in quantity and quality on the success ingredients which were present for the Shell Caribbean Cup, then just as the Cameroon did for Africa at the recent World Cup, Jamaica will bring glory to Caribbean football in the not too far future.”
Jamaica went to the World Cup Finals in 1998.

Today, I make a similar claim. If we level the playfield for all coaches and fully utilize the expertise of Jamaican coaches of proven worth to manage the technical development of our players, not only will our faces be seen more in the developed leagues all over the world but our country will join Mexico and become one of the dominant teams in the CONCACAF region.

Jamaica has a history of exceptional talent, with players like Fairy-Boots Alcock, Clarence Passalaigue, Gerry Alexander (who captained both the West Indies cricket and football teams), Noel Hall, Karl Largie, Lindy Delapenha, Anthony Hill, Syddie Bartlett, Allan Cole, Tony Keyes, Trevor Harris, Dago Gordon, Lennie Hyde, Neville Oxford, Bingi Blair, Johnny Barnes, Derrick Dennicer, Dennis Stylo Ewbanks, Andy Williams, Ali Rose, Steve Green, Paul Young, Kemal Malcolm, Shamar Shelton, Alan Ottey, and many others.

As far as I am aware, Jamaica is the only country in the region in which the Brazilians have offered football contract to players. Coach Penna acknowledged our outstanding talent; in a FIFA magazine, coach Simoes said that even in relation to Brazil, Jamaican players were talented.

It is up to us, the leaders and those who have the experience and the expertise to come together and guide our talented youth to their rightful place in international football, sooner rather than later.

Again, congratulations to all award winners. On behalf of the six Bell brothers, led by Jackie, I wish you all continued success. Thank you very much.
Russell Bell
March 26, 2009

[Lazie]

So you now confirm that we have 25 Adus? What has Freddy been up to lately?


Altidore is talent but sometimes you must realise that there is talent in Ja as well. I remember when you use to tell me we can't compare Jamaica with United. Can't compare our players with top class players from your favorite big club, now all that myth is gone with players like Fuller, Bibi, Austin, Shelton etc playing in very good leagues.

Mark my word that a young Jamaica player is going to sign with a decent club this year.

How many Americans starting for their teams in Europe and scoring on a regular basis? Only Mike Bradley.

Confirm what Sass? You obviously missed the sarcasm!

[Assasin]

the fact that the Americans develop at a younger age than Jamaican players is a testiment to our system but in some(many) cases our players outperform them eventually.

Remember when we couldn't compare Luton Shelton to Eddie Johnson? When Eddie was young and a buss up we net? Now where is Eddie and where is Luton? A bet you before last year nobody could tell you Rudi Austin was that good? Did he just drop from the sky?

After 2 weeks in the MLS Ryan Johnson and Omar Cumming on the score sheets and others are playing well.

[Pbanta]

Players need tactical help to play at a faster pace. They are technically good enough and players would move to a much higher level with the conducting of football trainnig sessions that are centered around what actually football is around the world. This will all happen one day when the JFF decides to put forth a coaches and players development program for the entire country and for all coaches at a price that is affordable. We are are waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PBanta

[Lazie]

Pbanta,

I will have to read the presentation later, thanks. However, the point of my post is that the schoolboy football mentality will not take us where we need to go. Yes, its tradition but how long are we going to allow tradition to hold us back?

Our football need some serious revamping bossman, but too many of us have the schoolboy football mentality to see the need for change.

[Mosiah]

snicker

Freddy? Freddy who?

[Assasin]

what so sarcastic about Freddy Adu? Explain.

He is yet to develop into a senior talent. showed a lot of promise but that was it. We have Orgill showing as much talent right now.

[Pbanta]

snicker

Freddy? Freddy who?

Correct. Freddy is not who others think he is.

[Assasin]

there is hope. I just hope we can move on it.

[Me]

Orgill may well become a better player than Adu, but Adu as a youth player was by far a higher performer at the youth level than anything we had. Fuller as a young player is the closest we had to a player who destroyed any defense no matter what nation.

Unfortunately for Adu he hasn't change much physically, or as Mo and Gamma said in the first place him was over age.

[Lazie]

the fact that the Americans develop at a younger age than Jamaican players is a testiment to our system but in some(many) cases our players outperform them eventually.

Remember when we couldn't compare Luton Shelton to Eddie Johnson? When Eddie was young and a buss up we net? Now where is Eddie and where is Luton? A bet you before last year nobody could tell you Rudi Austin was that good? Did he just drop from the sky?

After 2 weeks in the MLS Ryan Johnson and Omar Cumming on the score sheets and others are playing well.

You remind me of the man who tries to play darts. Him throw the dart 10 times and miss the board completely and the 11th time him hit the board him a pose.

When I tuned in to watch WCQ last night it hit me .... Jamaica out of it yet America will be qualifing for the next WC ... and you a sugarcoat reality bout outperform? Okay if yuh say suh.

We can continue beating our heads against the wall or we can take a step back and make the necessary changes.

[Pbanta]

there is hope. I just hope we can move on it.

Some of the 'we' would like to other other 'we' just may not know or want too! But the real 'we' can always hope and pray.