JAMAICA Under-17 head coach Wendell Downswell says he is satisfied with the composition of the squad that is set to embark on qualification for the World Cup championships later this year.

The 20 players and six officials were due to depart for Panama yesterday where they will compete in the CONCACAF Under-17 tournament and Downswell is confident that the “best players” have been selected.

“I would say it is a balanced unit we have. We have some experience and (we have) the players to fill the various areas (of the field) going into this tournament. When we look at it, I’m pretty satisfied that we have selected the best set of players. We have 12 local-based players who are properly groomed and those eight overseas players should also do fine,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Of the eight foreign-located players, six currently learn their craft in the United States, while two — Martin Davis and Luca Levee — are based in the land of senior World Cup winners, Spain.

Downswell, who was also integral in Jamaica’s successful qualifying campaigns in 1999 and 2011, said the selection process saw over a thousand young prospects being scouted both home and abroad.

“We have looked at a big pool of players… what I would consider about 1,500 players, which is a large volume of players. We looked at about 50 players overseas and we have invited at least 14 of them.

“We gave them (overseas-based players) an opportunity to come in… overall with that process the overseas players got the opportunity to come to Jamaica on a couple of occasions,” he said.

The Young Boyz play their first Group A match against Panama tomorrow before facing Caribbean Football Union (CFU) rivals Barbados on April 8.

Group B consists of Canada, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago, while Group C includes Guatemala, Haiti and CONCACAF giant United States.

Reigning Under-17 World Cup champions Mexico headline Group D, which also includes Honduras and Cuba.

The top-two countries from each group will progress to the quarter-final stage and the four semi-finalists will qualify for the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates from October 17 to November 8.

Squad — Ryan Miller, Oneil Anderson, Junior Flemmings, Raffique Bryan, Maalique Foster, Donald Francis, Seigle Knight, Iishmale Currie, Nathaniel Leslie, Imani Beckford, Rushane McClymont, Tyshan Hill, Michael Seaton, Malcolm Dixon, Khallil Stewart, Malcolm Stewart, Zachary Jones, Nicholas Nelson, Martin Davis, Luca Levee.