Hoping to capitalise on another outstanding result at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament, Bruce Gaynor, interim president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), has once again called for unwavering support from the Government and corporate Jamaica if the nation’s football is to kick on and transition to the next level.

The plea comes particularly after a Reggae Boyz roster, comprising players primarily from the top two tiers of American football and the local Premier League, defied the odds and qualified for a second consecutive Gold Cup Tournament final before losing 1-2 to hosts the United States of America (USA) inside Levi’s Stadium last Wednesday night.

The Boyz had avenged their 1-3 loss to Mexico in 2015 when they became the first Caribbean team to qualify for the final, with a 1-0 triumph in the semi-final in front of 42,393 spectators at the famed Rose Bowl in Pasadena the previous Sunday.

But for Gaynor, who is serving as head of the JFF until September 16 when a new president will be elected at a congress, the mechanics are simple.

“Our marketing team which we have put together over the past couple of weeks, I think they have used our experiences within the Gold Cup and our experiences within the other competitions and we are packaging all of this together because we have a story to tell. And out of this story Jamaica must partner with us,” he told the Jamaica Observer shortly after the Gold Cup final last Wednesday.

He added: “It is no longer where the JFF is going to be left on its own to shoulder all of this, because it’s a huge burden. Jamaica must partner with us if we are going to go over the hurdle, if we are going to do our best as a footballing country.”

And though surprised at the accomplishment of the team at this year’s tournament, the St James businessman believes that it was an indication of what can be achieved if serious and consistent investment is made in the nation’s youth development.

“The team did very well, I think they did much more than we expected, especially with using mostly local players and I suppose it shows us that if we invest enough in the team with the youth, and as I have always said, Jamaica will always field its best team, and having its best team we expect that local players, are going to be involved. But to get them involved also, we need to invest in them and we need to invest in their training,” Gaynor said.

“I think it is most important and Jamaica can see going forward that if we as a JFF, if we as a government, and if we as a corporate Jamaica come out and play our individual parts I know that we would be preparing for a good couple of years coming.”

Head Coach Theodore Whitmore came to the end of his latest contract following Wednesday’s final. He had been rehired after German Winfried Schaefer had fallen out of favour with the then Captain Horace Burrell-led administration.

But Gaynor does not foresee an issue retaining the former Reggae Boyz star and the man who in his latest stint got the Boyz to punch well above their weight. In fact, he was willing to make his personal position to retain Whitmore, clear.

“I’ve known Theodore for the past 20-odd years; he’s been a part of my club before and I’ve always respected him as a player then and now as a coach.

“The JFF will do an assessment, the relevant bodies, as we have a technical director and a technical committee that will do an assessment and then make recommendations going forward and out of those assessments we will sit and speak with Mr Whitmore to arrive at something, and the board, I suppose, and I can basically tell you that for me the vote is yes.

“So, it is going to be left now on the board to finalise what it is that we are going to offer Mr Whitmore going forward,” Gaynor said definitively.

In ending, Gaynor said that there is a lot to be thankful for, given the predicament that the JFF is currently in. And he added that though it costed the federation a lot of money to participate at the Gold Cup and spending all of 21 days at the tournament, in the end it was worth it.

“You know, Jamaica is a blessed island and after all that has happened with the passing of our president (Captain Burrell) and the serious financial binds that we have found ourselves in and at the end of it the Gold Cup team is a silver medal winner… and I can tell you it, has costed us a tidy sum, but it’s worth it. The investment is worth it, especially since I’ve seen some releases talking about the Premier League players out of Jamaica. It is worth it.

“We have our Under-18 Girlz, who just played in the Commonwealth Games Beach football and they were also silver medallists. We had our Under-20 Girlz playing in Bermuda returning home from the first leg of qualification for the Under-20 World Cup being successful in the two games that they played.

“We are investing a great deal in our teams, and we have the Under-17 team that is going to St Vincent in another week or two, and we have the Under-15 Boyz who are going to Orlando sometime in August. And the coach (Whitmore) will also inform us when he’s going to call a local training camp because going to play Canada it is going to be a grudge match,” he said.

Jamaica’s next fixture is against Canada in a friendly international in Toronto on September 2, 2017.