AS the National Under-17 Reggae Girlz kicked off their preparations for the first phase of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) World Cup qualifiers, head coach Lorne Donaldson said the team is gradually making progress.

The 24-member squad commenced its one-week camp last Friday and engaged the first of their three practice games against GC Foster College on Monday at the Drewsland Mini-stadium.

The young Girlz won the encounter 3-0, but Donaldson told the Jamaica Observer that the encounter was used to work on more significant aspects of the team’s game.

“The girls are happy to be here. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the team because the programme has taken a little bit different turn, but in terms of pure football, we know we are close to where potentially we can be. We have a lot to learn, and we are starting from the

goalkeeper position to the striker position….we have to improve in every position tremendously,” he pointed out.

He continued: “This is the first time they have been out together on the field, and we gave them some very simple stuff. We want to see play from the back [and] keep possession when we need to, and they did a decent job of it.

“It is not great, but the ideas are gelling. They know what they want to do, but now we need to do it on a consistent level. There has got to be consistency on the field and in team organisation, but we also want to play football….we don’t just want to kick the ball to the next team, we want to put it down and play football.”

And even though he is pleased with the squad, which includes four overseas-based players, Donaldson explained that they are currently trying to attract more overseas-based players before selecting the final 20 ahead of departure for Suriname on Monday.

“We have a lot of players here, but we have to find some better players for different positions, and we are still searching. There are a lot of players now that are interested, especially overseas-based players that are in the United States national team pool. But again we have to convince them to make sure they know that Jamaica is the best thing for them.

“We are working on it, we have a few in now, and there are some better ones that I think we will get. But for them right now, being in the top 100 in the US system is better than playing for Jamaica — we have to change that mentality and I think we are changing it fast,” he noted.

The former assistant coach of Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Colorado Rapids outlined that a joint camp with the United States would heighten the interest of players based overseas.

However, it is understood that the team was invited to a camp in the US, but was unable to take up the offer due to financial constraints.

Looking ahead to the tournament, Donaldson said the team is in fast-forward mode to get the speed, fitness, and mental capability of the players ready.

“We can’t overload them right now, so we have to take baby steps. There is going to be a lot of things that we want to cover in such a short period of time, but we have to pick and choose what we want to just get us through the first phase of this tournament,” he said.

“We have to fast-forward everything. Their learning curve has to be a little bit bigger and rushing, it is not the best thing for young players, but I think we have to do this because it is a short camp and competition is right around the corner. We have to just try to get them ready,” he added.

At the completion of the CFU round, the top-two teams from the Caribbean will qualify for the CONCACAF round slated for November.

The top two teams from the CONCACAF stage, plus another team from the play-offs will then represent the federation at the 2016 World Cup in Jordan.