Under-23 team to contest ‘friendlies’ against St Vincent
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) have increased efforts in their vision of qualifying a Jamaican football team to the 2020 Olympics by securing two friendly contests for the Under-23 squad against St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The two games to be played in St Vincent on August 24 and 26 represent the international phase of the squad’s preparation for next year’s qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.
Head coach Donovan Duckie will be assisted by former women’s head coach Merron Gordon on the project with manager Howard Bell overseeing proceedings. The team is scheduled to depart on August 21 and return on the 28th.
President of the JFF Michael Ricketts made the announcement at the JFF offices on Friday while naming the 18 players who will be making the trip, which is a continued show of the federation’s commitment to providing quality preparation for the squad.
The JFF and JOA forged the invaluable partnership earlier this year which is aimed at bringing the Olympic qualification vision to fruition.
Kirk Finnikin, JOA’s business development manager, reaffirmed their commitment to assist the JFF in this endeavour, noting that this partnership is in the interest of the country.
“I want to categorically state that the JOA remains committed to the established partnership that has been fostered between the JFF and the JOA. We are pleased to say that we are seeing fruit bearing from the support that we have provided and we want to see it continued in that vein,” Finnikin declared.
“The objective for us is quite simple, and that is to provide the JFF with the resources to have their team developed and ready for the necessary qualification, and ultimately to allow the selected team to perform at their best at the highest level at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” he added.
The three-year partnership takes the form of a training programme specially designed to select the top-tier Under-23 players for the Olympic programme, to include local and international training camps and practice games.
The $8-million agreement is being used to cover costs associated with training camps and practice games including nutritional support, transportation, gear and match-related costs.
A total of 50 players were initially selected primarily from the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) clubs, the Under-18 Elite League and the All-Manning and All-DaCosta Cup teams to make up a provisional squad.
Preparations for this elite pool of players commenced in May with practice games islandwide against RSPL, zone and Super League teams, and players were rotated for training camps during the period.
The upcoming friendlies are now falling in the intensified phase of the team’s preparation with international training camps and games set to follow in 2019 when CONCACAF qualifications to the 2020 Olympic Games will begin.
Squad: Deshane Beckford, Javain Brown, Jamoy Topey, Daniel Green, Alex Marshall, Kaheem Parris, Tevin Shaw, Ajeanie Talbott, Ricardo Thomas, Peter-Lee Vassell, Jeadine White, Eric Edwards, Ricardo Dennis, Venton Evans, Ray Campbell, Clifton Woodbine, Shandel Senior, Chevany Willis.