In a globalised football world, with more than 40,000,000 players in more than 330,000 clubs all over the world, it is a major challenge to make a name for oneself, especially when one wants to become an outstanding part of this great sport family. This applies to individual players, clubs, as well as nations.

However, numbers do not matter because at the heart of the game we love so much is the hunger for victory. Political correctness, friendship and fair play aside, if you want to be successful in football, whether it be long-term or in the magical 90 minutes, you need an I-want-it-all attitude.

But before that, you have to build the foundation to success. And now we have the opportunity to do exactly that.

Jamaica is a small country. We will never have a player pool as large as Brazil or the USA, but that will not pose a challenge if we focus on a highly diversified and intelligent development for youth work and professional club structure. If we support our talents in a modern, professional way, if we build upon a base of expertise and long-term planning, we will be able to establish an impressive trademark in global football.

Trademark may sound too commercial and not particularly sporty, but today, it’s incredibly important to establish yourself as a trademark. There is a reason why even an average Brazilian football player can find a lucrative contract all over the world if his agent brags about his “impressive technical play”: simply because that is what football officials around the world expect from a Brazilian player. Stereotypes are weighty. That is not always fair, but it is the reality.

In the next years, we have to bring together the Jamaican football clubs of all divisions, the officials of the national team and the media to establish a positive trademark: Jamaica as an example of outstanding youth work, training, teaching and supporting of the future in Jamaican football.

The stronger this trademark becomes, the better the economic chances for every single player, the clubs and the national team, and the greater our chance of success. In addition to that, we will increase our chance to become part of FIFA’s diverse supporting programmes.

We look forward to organising a meeting between the Jamaican football authorities and the media to discuss the future of Jamaican football. Let’s take this opportunity to shape the future together.

Editor’s note: The above is a letter dated October 30, 2013, from head coach Winfried Schafer to Jamaicans.