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published: Wednesday | May 9, 2007
IN THE ABSENCE of a culture in which sports administrators do not feel compelled to demit office amid constant failures in and the Caribbean, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a council with authority to fire such personnel.
Very clear evidence for this jury was provided in no uncertain manner by the response, or lack of it, of top Cricket Board (WICB) officials in the face of the regional team's recent debacle; and only this past weekend, those in the hierarchy of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), following the national Under-17 bottom place finish in the CONCACAF Final Round World Cup qualification series at the National Stadium.
The West Indies, champions of the cricket game for decades, have been struggling terribly in recent years with a host of losses and were easily dispatched by top-notch teams Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the Super Eights of the recent Cricket World Cup.
With the exception of a player dropped here and there, on the surface there is not much evidence of change.
Following the team's World Cup demise, board president Ken Gordon, in a letter of intent to resign, basically reasoned that their inability to successfully arrest the problems affecting the Caribbean had forced him to that decision. Further, Gordon suggested he would resign to set a standard for other cricket governors in the wings to do the same when they have failed.
'Ha, ha, ha!' Those members among the board to whom he put the suggestion 'asked him to reconsider' as they would have none of it. That's just not the done thing around here.
So, that unaccountable bunch soldiered on in whatever fashion, while the region's much-beloved game crumbled.
Succession of failures
Then, there is the JFF, which, amidst few successes has steadily built a ladder of failure that is becoming more unbearable with every step.
Numbered among the successes are the 2005 Digicel Caribbean Cup, Caribbean Under-15 title, 2007 Lunar New Year Cup, qualification of men's and women's Under-23 teams for this summer's Pan-Am Games in Brazil.
Failures include that of the Reggae Boyz in the 2006 World Cup campaign when Sebastiao Lazaroni was brought in to replace Carl Brown who had successfully qualified the team to the semi-final stage; the Boyz's '06 embarrassment with elimination from a four-nation Digicel Caribbean Cup group with Haiti, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted at the National Stadium, which intrinsically meant failure to qualify for the Gold Cup; as well as the failure of the women's senior and Under-19 teams to make the World Cup, added to that of the Young Boyz.
The latest step, from which Jamaica made a mighty fall, came on Sunday night at the National Stadium when the Under-17 boys were beaten 1-0 by Trinidad and Tobago and denied a spot in the Youth World Cup in Korea.
Bottom of the rung
If Jamaica had won that match, it would have qualified for a World Cup in which it appeared so destined to participate. They were hosts, five countries were competing and three of the five nations were guaranteed qualification.
Instead, Jamaica finished bottom of the rung with the three points it took off the best team in the qualifiers, the United States, who have advanced to every World Cup Final at that age level.
This Under-17 team was again, according to the JFF, the 'best prepared' national team, just like the Under-20s who also finished bottom of a four-nation CONCACAF Final Round Youth World Cup elimination series - which included little St. Kitts - in January in Mexico, the same Under-20s who were 'better' than the one which advanced to the Youth World Cup in Argentina in 2001.
That Under-20 unit, which actually played in the Argentina World Cup, had over 60-odd matches, had a camp in Brazil, toured Europe and the United States, where they got first-class practice, which is really the right type of preparation for teams aiming for world level tournaments.
The same applies to the Reggae Boyz who made it to France '98 and the Under-17s a year later who qualified for the Youth World Cup Finals in New Zealand.
A significant difference between the national teams that have sought World Cup qualification under this Crenston Boxhill-led JFF is that they have played loads of practice matches - only against local teams.
Boxhill himself, was anintegral part of the Captain Horace Burrell-led JFF at the time and the senior Reggae Boyz - as team manager - when these teams were making giant strides towards qualifying for these tournaments. The fact that his administration has not adopted clearly successful strategies indicate an unwillingness to take the risks to transform failure into success.
The Under-17 coach, David Hunt, did the honourable thing and resigned immediately after Sunday's failure. The West Indies coach, Bennett King, also made a similar move after the World Cup.
However, in a country and region where the motivation and pressure to perform is lacking as there are no systems of accountability, or culture to walk away, let's urgently establish councils to fire en bloc these failed administrators of cricket and football in Jamaica and the West Indies.
audley.boyd@gleanerjm
IN THE ABSENCE of a culture in which sports administrators do not feel compelled to demit office amid constant failures in and the Caribbean, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a council with authority to fire such personnel.
Very clear evidence for this jury was provided in no uncertain manner by the response, or lack of it, of top Cricket Board (WICB) officials in the face of the regional team's recent debacle; and only this past weekend, those in the hierarchy of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), following the national Under-17 bottom place finish in the CONCACAF Final Round World Cup qualification series at the National Stadium.
The West Indies, champions of the cricket game for decades, have been struggling terribly in recent years with a host of losses and were easily dispatched by top-notch teams Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the Super Eights of the recent Cricket World Cup.
With the exception of a player dropped here and there, on the surface there is not much evidence of change.
Following the team's World Cup demise, board president Ken Gordon, in a letter of intent to resign, basically reasoned that their inability to successfully arrest the problems affecting the Caribbean had forced him to that decision. Further, Gordon suggested he would resign to set a standard for other cricket governors in the wings to do the same when they have failed.
'Ha, ha, ha!' Those members among the board to whom he put the suggestion 'asked him to reconsider' as they would have none of it. That's just not the done thing around here.
So, that unaccountable bunch soldiered on in whatever fashion, while the region's much-beloved game crumbled.
Succession of failures
Then, there is the JFF, which, amidst few successes has steadily built a ladder of failure that is becoming more unbearable with every step.
Numbered among the successes are the 2005 Digicel Caribbean Cup, Caribbean Under-15 title, 2007 Lunar New Year Cup, qualification of men's and women's Under-23 teams for this summer's Pan-Am Games in Brazil.
Failures include that of the Reggae Boyz in the 2006 World Cup campaign when Sebastiao Lazaroni was brought in to replace Carl Brown who had successfully qualified the team to the semi-final stage; the Boyz's '06 embarrassment with elimination from a four-nation Digicel Caribbean Cup group with Haiti, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted at the National Stadium, which intrinsically meant failure to qualify for the Gold Cup; as well as the failure of the women's senior and Under-19 teams to make the World Cup, added to that of the Young Boyz.
The latest step, from which Jamaica made a mighty fall, came on Sunday night at the National Stadium when the Under-17 boys were beaten 1-0 by Trinidad and Tobago and denied a spot in the Youth World Cup in Korea.
Bottom of the rung
If Jamaica had won that match, it would have qualified for a World Cup in which it appeared so destined to participate. They were hosts, five countries were competing and three of the five nations were guaranteed qualification.
Instead, Jamaica finished bottom of the rung with the three points it took off the best team in the qualifiers, the United States, who have advanced to every World Cup Final at that age level.
This Under-17 team was again, according to the JFF, the 'best prepared' national team, just like the Under-20s who also finished bottom of a four-nation CONCACAF Final Round Youth World Cup elimination series - which included little St. Kitts - in January in Mexico, the same Under-20s who were 'better' than the one which advanced to the Youth World Cup in Argentina in 2001.
That Under-20 unit, which actually played in the Argentina World Cup, had over 60-odd matches, had a camp in Brazil, toured Europe and the United States, where they got first-class practice, which is really the right type of preparation for teams aiming for world level tournaments.
The same applies to the Reggae Boyz who made it to France '98 and the Under-17s a year later who qualified for the Youth World Cup Finals in New Zealand.
A significant difference between the national teams that have sought World Cup qualification under this Crenston Boxhill-led JFF is that they have played loads of practice matches - only against local teams.
Boxhill himself, was anintegral part of the Captain Horace Burrell-led JFF at the time and the senior Reggae Boyz - as team manager - when these teams were making giant strides towards qualifying for these tournaments. The fact that his administration has not adopted clearly successful strategies indicate an unwillingness to take the risks to transform failure into success.
The Under-17 coach, David Hunt, did the honourable thing and resigned immediately after Sunday's failure. The West Indies coach, Bennett King, also made a similar move after the World Cup.
However, in a country and region where the motivation and pressure to perform is lacking as there are no systems of accountability, or culture to walk away, let's urgently establish councils to fire en bloc these failed administrators of cricket and football in Jamaica and the West Indies.
audley.boyd@gleanerjm
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