Jamaican football needs more 'team spirit', says Mitchell

Saturday, February 04, 2012

The energies and training which have made individual Jamaican athletes into world beaters should be applied to players on its football teams, says Leon Mitchell, assistant general manager, marketing, sales & promotions at Jamaica National Building Society.

The Reggae Boyz are ranked 52nd in the January 2012 FIFA world football ratings, which is well below the 27th placement in 1998, Mitchell said. Jamaica's latest FIFA ranking has shown steady improvement, however, with many football players having been recruited from local clubs and making strides playing in North American and European leagues.

"It is interesting to note that many of our young people seem to excel at individual sports, more so than team sports," said Mitchell, who is also an official of the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association, and a football coach. And, he pointed out that desire, determination, discipline and leadership are some of the principles required for success in both areas.

"Each player must work with the coaches, tacticians and managers to put out their very best effort each time they step onto a field, a court, or on a track," he stated.

Mitchell was speaking at the Kingston and St Andrew Business House Football Association (BHFA) awards presentation on Monday at the Red Stripe Sports Club in Kingston, where Petrojam, Jamaica Customs and the Gleaner Company took the top honours.

His stance was supported by Wayne Shaw, BHFA president, who said that, "individually we do well, but getting 11 persons to work together is where the problem is". And, commenting on the difference in performance between local individual athletes and teams, he said, "we are not thinking enough about the team".

Jamaica has talented athletes, but individualism and administrative weaknesses undermine its team level performances, Shaw maintained. "The unity is not there, hence we are not getting the cohesiveness needed to get desired results."

Maurice 'Danny' Lyn, recipient of the BHFA's 2011 Abe Alexander Memorial Award, observed that "if you play constructive football and win, you are not rated as good as if you play fancy football and lose".

"Great players make other players look great," Lyn declared. "Until we get that concept in our minds, we will not have better teams."

"As you step onto the football field, you have to learn discipline, and you have to earn the respect and fellowship of your teammates, and to have respect for leadership," Mitchell said, adding that, "you first have to learn to follow".