Though the ultimate goal is to qualify for the CONCACAF Championship, Jamaica’s Under-17 Reggae Boyz are eyeing the title of Caribbean champions.

In the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) finals slated for Trinidad and Tobago from September 16-25, where the top-five finishers will earn berths to the confederation’s play-offs, Jamaica are hoping to book a semi-final spot from the eight-team tournament.

Competing in Group A, the Young Boyz, who were due to arrive in the twin-island republic last evening, will start the business day against minnows Bermuda tomorrow. They will then cross swords with fierce rivals Haiti on Sunday and wrap up the preliminary phase against the hosts two days later.

Cuba, Guadeloupe, Curacoa and Suriname will do battle in Group B.

The top-two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, with all four, plus the fifth-place finisher, booking spots to the CONCACAF Championship slated for Panama City next April 21-May 7.

Four teams from the CONCACAF tournament will earn places to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India next summer.

Jamaica’s coach Andrew Edwards noted that winning the first match against Bermuda will set the tone for the campaign to book a semi-final spot from a tough group involving gigantic opposition in age-old rivals Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.

“The first and most important goal is to make it through to the CONCACAF stage, which means we need to have a strong and positive start in the first game of the tournament against Bermuda on Friday, and then we want to try and optimise the points against the other two opponents and make it to the semi-finals of the competition,” he said.

Should Jamaica successfully navigate their way into the semi-final frame, Edwards and his Boyz want to take aim at bigger fish.

“Once we get into the semi-final stage, we will want to win the competition… this time we want to go one better, as we finished second the last time out,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Edwards, who coaches at Jamaica’s schoolboy level with Manchester High, said a healthy competition building within his team will augur well for the ambition of being crowned Caribbean champions.

“Kaheem Parris says he wants to win the MVP award, and strikers Raewin Senior and Nickque Daley want the Golden Boot, so straight away we have strong competition within our ranks, and I think if those players achieve their individual goals, then the team goal of winning the championship is a reasonable target,” he said.

Edwards, who is a teacher by profession, noted that while the team will take the field each time with the success of the country at heart, there could also be opportunities for individuals.

“I am aware there will be a lot of scouts there in Trinidad and some of them have already been in touch with me, and we would want to bring some attention to our best players, if not all of them, and hopefully bring some opportunities on the table that can be seriously considered for their own future,” he reasoned.

Jamaica, having qualified for the Under-17 World Cup of New Zealand in 1999 and Mexico in 2011, are in the hunt for a third successful campaign.

Squad — Daniel Russell, Kendal Edwards, Jamoi Topey, Damani Osei, Kaheem Parris, Jordan Petrekin, Renato Campbell, Blake White, Cobi Atkinson, Jeremy Verley, Chad Letts, Omar Thompson, Nickache Murray, Kimani Gibbons, Tajay Griffiths, Cal-Wayne Allen, Raewin Senior, Horace Ramsay, Jamari Morrison and Nickque Daley.

— Sean Williams