FOOTBALL coach and educator Vinimore “Vin” Blaine wants to champion crucial changes inside Jamaica’s women’s football programme as he gets into his rhythm as boss of the Reggae Girlz.

Among other things, the veteran tactician hopes to spur the revival of the competition platform of the women’s game and to help in fostering mutual respect and professionalism between the various stakeholder ranks of the football infrastructure.

Blaine, who was speaking during a virtual press conference yesterday, referenced the impact the lack of local competitions is having on the development process of home-based talent.

Also, the former Harbour View FC technical director — who has recently reprised his role as head coach of the Reggae Girlz — says he wants to spearhead changes in the way the business of football is conducted between functionaries of the women’s programme and the governing Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

In the recent past, technical staff and players have had a stormy relationship with the JFF over wages, working conditions and a general separation of views on many issues.

But what irks Blaine most of all is that much of the squabbles were played out in the media, a conduct which he hopes to change during his interim tenure as coach of the World Cup-chasing Girlz.

“Regarding the working environment, I went over that with the potential coaching staff this (yesterday) morning. One of the areas that bothered me in the past, and I must ensure that we take care of that, is [ the issue] with the communication lines.

“In the past, I saw on the TV and in the printed media about the coaching staff saying this and that about the JFF and players having difficulties with certain things and expressing themselves, and that is one of the things I want to shore up,” he said.

Blaine, who resigned a position with the US Virgin Islands Football Association as director of football and coaching education to return to the Girlz set-up, wants matter of internal interest to remain so.

During his tenure, which is anchored on the qualification process of Fifa World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023, he says all internal matters should be managed professionally rather than the proverbial “washing of dirty linen in public”.

“[Going forward] the communications line should be through me, and not from a player to the media…this can’t happen in my camp. We can’t go to the players with negativity about the federation. We can’t,” Blaine stated.

“[Any issue] must come from a meeting with us, and then we go to the FA with one voice…we can’t have people saying this and that to the media, we want the girls to concentrate on the game and that’s their job.

“The JFF is our employers, and I have said to the president and general secretary, I don’t expect the JFF to be 100 per cent, but it’s how we handle [issues] that will make the difference. My concern is that I don’t want the girls to get involved in that,” Blaine said.

With competition for females frozen for a lack of support, the quantum development of local players has been stymied, which effectively marginalised many of them from getting opportunities to parade their skills with the hope of transitioning to the national level.

“I am very concerned [with lack of local leagues]…I was always critical of the fact that we didn’t have the base where the likes of Khadijah Shaw, Deneisha Blackwood, Trudy Carter and Jody Brown all came through and now we don’t have that anymore.

“I think we sacrificed our development to get to the World Cup…I think we moved away from that [local competition structure]. My role now is to try and have discussions with the stakeholders as to how we can get this back.

“I think we have to start with a vibrant school league and then move our way up. But do we start with a senior league or a junior league. My take from five years ago before I left Jamaica was to scrap the senior league and start with a junior programme like an Under-20,” Blaine reasoned.

As the Girlz continue their preparation for the first round of Concacaf World Cup qualifiers in February where they will face Bermuda, Grenada, Cayman Islands and Dominican Republic, the chance of new local-based players making the team at this time is slim for obvious reasons.

But Blaine made it clear that for the 2023 cycle and other tournaments between now and then, he hopes the environment will be in place for local players to once again be able to stake their claim

“At the moment, it would be foolhardy of me to bring in local girls who are not prepared as far as I am concerned. Bringing in of local players will be an ongoing process, [although] I don’t see it happening for this World Cup, but I see it happening for the next World Cup and other tournaments that we will participating in. The only way we can bridge that gap is to get the girls back to playing consistently…I can’t say I can bridge the gap right away, but I do plan to bridge that gap,” he said.

Blaine, the former technical director of football for Grenada, said it was premature to publicise names of his coaching team, though it is expected to feature familiar faces.

“I have met with the potential coaching staff this morning and I am planning to have a meeting with the Girlz this week or early next week, but surely before the holidays. I want to introduce myself and get a feeling of where they are. So, yes, it’s a journey that I am looking forward to.

“There will be changes [to back-room staff], but not many. I want to work with people who I have confidence in and people who I trust… I have worked with most of these people before and I am confident in those who I have chosen,” he shared.

Blaine, who also serves as a Fifa and Concacaf coaching instructor, takes over the job after the indefinite suspension of Hubert Busby Jr after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a female player while he coached at Vancouver Whitecaps.

The incoming coach, and a veteran of the women’s programme in Jamaica, says he does not wish to belabour the matter related to Canadian-born Busby, but rather to focus on pulling all pieces together with the World Cup as the primary goal.

“The first thing I will say is that I won’t get into the politics of what happened as Busby’s situation was unfortunate and I am not trying to push him out of the way as he did a good job in recruiting many of the current players.

“This is a continuation for me…when I talk to the girls it won’t be about what Busby did or didn’t do, but how we can move forward in unity and get to the World Cup, which I am 100 per cent certain we can do,” said Blaine.

He said while he comes onto the treadmill already in motion, it’s incumbent on him to set his own pace.

“The continuation is one thing, but it’s the continuation of how I project myself as a coach and the values that I bring to the programme [that’s important].

“I can’t speak for what happened before as I wasn’t there to see what [previous] coaching staff was doing, but what I know is that there are certain values I bring to the programme,” Blaine reasoned.

He admits that he comes into his new term with the axis of the women’s game significantly shifted from his earlier days when the landscape was amateurish to semi-professional at best.

“It’s at a different level now as when I was there [before] where we had mostly local-based players coming out of our leagues. There is a difference now because the players that are being recruited are professionals, so the expectation level is a little higher, but how we handle that will make the difference,” Blaine noted.

— Sean Williams