THOSE who follow Jamaica’s football will recall the pains to get the nation’s first FIFA Goal Project off the ground.

First, a site was identified to construct an academy in Portmore, with no less a figure of FIFA President Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter breaking ground for the project in 2003. The same year, Crenston Boxhill replaced the incumbent Captain Horace Burrell as Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, and the Portmore project was scrapped.

The Boxhill administration had their own idea for the location and surprised many when they had it relocated to the hilly and remote rural community of Malvern in St Elizabeth.

That project got underway with an attempt at renovating existing structures on the property to serve as dorms for players in camp. In 2007, when Burrell returned to the presidency of the JFF, that site was abandoned and the property eventually sold to Government below projected market value.

Starting from scratch again, Jamaica made yet another attempt at getting their desired football academy. It all took shape when the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, on a new sport development thrust with its then proposed Centre of Excellence, offered lands at the UWI Bowl to the JFF to construct what is now the Technical Centre.

With many delays, the JFF was able to complete three of four phases of their technical home, with one to go which will see dormitories being built to complement the existing two training fields and an administrative building.

And the journey continues.

And with the JFF Technical Centre already functioning as the home of Jamaica’s teams — male and female — another major first was unveiled at the site yesterday.

The JMMB/JFF/UTech Coaching School will host the 14th Level One course at the Technical Centre, starting this weekend and to run over a total of six weekends. Twenty-five coaches are down to participate as they seek certification.

At a function to mark the historically significant moment and the opening of the course, a beaming Burrell could hardly contain himself.

“It’s a dream come true, because one can recall when this was conceived we were to have it in Portmore, and then a new administration came into being and they shifted the site to St Elizabeth, and good wisdom prevailed and we shifted it here,” he recalled.

“But still it took a while because of funding and so on, but in the end, we got everything in place and many people thought that this day would never come. And to see that we have completed the facility and that we will be holding a coaching course here is a great feeling,” Burrell told the Sunday Observer.

He said that with the facility broadening its capacity in helping the development process, it speaks volume for the growth of the nation’s game across its spectrum.

“This means a lot for the development of football. All of this is a demonstration that Jamaica’s football has come of age and that we are about to begin a new era of football development by doing the right things like having the coaches trained properly, and soon to come, the construction of dormitories for players, students and staff,” Burrell went on.

Meanwhile, FIFA development officer for the Caribbean, Angenie Kanhai said she was delighted to be on a mission in Jamaica, which coincided with the historical occasion.

“I am very pleased, as this facility was built with the focus of being used to develop football here in Jamaica; where players, coaches would be able to come in a classroom setting,” she noted.

Kanhai, a Trinidadian, said apart from the JFF Technical Centre hosting its first coaching course, her three-day visit to Jamaica was satisfactory, as she found the country’s development programmes to be on the ball.

“The purpose of the visit was to follow up and ensure that we have continuity in the development programmes, and that has been happening… the grass-roots development programme has continued successfully, the coaching courses and coaching development have continued very well,” she told the Observer.

“I hear that in Jamaica you have not had rain for some time yet you have green grass here… I was very surprised, as I expected to see a wasteland, but they (ground staff) have done a spectacular job. What I have seen here once again showed me that we are deserving of many of the FIFA assistance in the region and in Jamaica,” Kanhai noted.

She said that Jamaica’s progressive stance and demonstration of commitment to the development of the game has made it easy for her to recommend the country for a fourth FIFA Goal project, which is standard payout of US$400,000 (J$38 million).

“We have already given the recommendation… we will just wait for the next cycle of Goal Project and the JFF can then formally apply,” Kanhai declared.

Burrell added that he was confident that the visiting FIFA development officer would leave Jamaica with a positive impression, therefore her report back to Zurich would be a positive one.

“Once it is established that you are making good use of current projects, plus based on how we have impressed the development officer, I am confident that her recommendation will be positive, and I am very optimistic about our chances of being awarded a further Goal Project,” said the CONCACAF vice-president.