Cash-less JFF ignores Women's qualifiers

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, March 07, 2010

LACK of funding has forced the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to pull the plug on the senior female footballers by not entering the qualifiers of the CONCACAF Gold Cup later this year.

The Caribbean qualifiers kicked off last Wednesday with 17 teams vying for two spots to the six-team Gold Cup slated for late October or early November.

Jamaica's non-participation also means the Reggae Girlz will miss a chance to qualify for the Central American and Caribbean Games in July in Puerto Rico.

JFF's general secretary Horace Reid it was the best thing to do in light of the limited resources available.

Said Reid: "When you have scare resources you have to prioritise. The focus will be on our developmental programmes; instead of pumping money into the top part of the programme, we'll put into the bottom part of the programme."

Under the present cash-strapped economic climate, the situation regarding the senior women's team will not change "until the funding situation at the JFF improves".

"The JFF is looking at some strategic position for women's development coming out of the failure of the Under-20s as well," Reid told the Sunday Observer.

In January, the National Under-20 girls failed in their effort to qualify for the FIFA World Cup after losing all three games to the USA, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.

"The talent that is coming through once they get to the top... are not good enough or not competitive enough. We're doing fairly well at the Caribbean (level), but that's neither here nor there. When we get to the other level the gap is widening, it's not closing," Reid lamented.

"What we should do is spend a lot more time and resources at the prep and primary school level," he offerred.

But the general thought is that one cannot cut off the head and expect the body to function.

"We don't believe so. The truth is when we get to that level we are just honouring the fixture without a realistic chance of going further. When you have very scare resources you have to identify and prioritise where we put those resources.

"...Nine national teams and.... if you spread yourself thin you don't give any of your teams a real shot," Reid noted.

The senior Reggae Girlz participated in the 2008 Olympic qualifiers and failed at the CONCACAF level under coach Charles Edwards.

Since then, they have been inactive amid the JFF's failed effort to secure sponsorship last year and a decision was taken to forego this year's Gold Cup qualifiers.

Now the onus is on the Under-17s to deliver, and they will enter their CONCACAF Championship set for March 10 in which two teams will qualify for the World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago in July.

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Cash-less JFF ignores Women's qualifiers