MONTEGO BAY, St James — In an effort to help raise the standard of the position, former Reggae Boyz goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts will host a goalkeepers’ clinic at Half Moon Hotel football field on December 15 and 16 primarily for high school players.

Ricketts, who played for the Orlando and Los Angeles franchises in the American Major League Soccer, told the Jamaica Observer yesterday he will be hosting the two-day event through his foundation and will have assistance from his former goalkeeper, coach Paul Campbell.

The sessions for the high school players will be from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, but he said he was thinking of having another session in the afternoon where they would work with club players from the Montego Bay region.

“The goalkeeper position has often times been neglected… based on what I have seen the past few years, we have a lot of talented goalkeepers, we have some diamonds, but now we need to apply some pressure to these diamonds to make them sparkle,” said Ricketts.

He added that while some schools have goalkeeper coaches, “some of these coaches themselves are in need of help”.

Already, Ricketts said, the word had gone out and while he had targeted some schools from the Montego Bay area as well as some from outside the parish, he had got calls from schools from as far away as St Elizabeth who are interested.

He said he had not set a ceiling on the number of players he was expecting and had asked each school to send two players.

“We are expecting a good turn out… we hope all who come will learn something and be better players when they get back to the schools and clubs… if we can make a difference for even one player that will be worth the effort,” he said.