WITH plans in place to put greater emphasis on youth programmes, Jamaica Football Federation President (JFF) Michael Ricketts says they intend to strengthen their partnership with Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) to ensure Jamaica qualifies for major tournaments across all levels.

The focus on grass roots initiatives has been a long-standing issue with several stakeholders. It was once again highlighted in July when the Under-20 Reggae Boyz failed to qualify for the World Cup after losing all three group games — including a 0-9 defeat to the United States — in the Concacaf Under-20 Championship. It meant that Jamaica’s over-20-year drought was extended as their first and only appearance at an Under-20 World Cup took place in 2001.

However, there was some optimism in the summer as the Under-14 Reggae Boyz won the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Challenge Cup in Trinidad, with new national senior men’s coach, Steve McClaren praising the team and the future of Jamaican football. The Under-17 team has also been preparing since the start of the year as they look to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

While citing a lack of resources as a factor in some of the country’s past failures, Ricketts says they’re learning from their mistakes.

“The real issue is affordability and, unfortunately, sometimes we have to select teams that we’re going to invest in because we’re unable to in every single youth team. I think the Under 20s were a little bit short-changed; I don’t think we were properly prepared at all, hence the results,” Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer.

“The Under 17s, I’m very impressed with the progress they’ve made. They’ve gone abroad, overseas a few times for training camps; they’ve consistently been put in camps here in Jamaica; so we’re very positive as it relates to the progress of our youth teams so we’re just hopeful and expectant that it will translate into some positive results,” he added.

Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts (Joseph Wellington)

In August, at the launch of the Manning and daCosta Cup schoolboy football competitions, ISSA President Keith Wellington said they want more respect from the JFF. Although unhappy with Wellington’s public comments, Ricketts says there needs to be increased collaboration due to the important role schoolboy football competitions play in developing talent.

“The last two years would have shown the importance of schoolboy football and the transition that these schoolboys make. [Dujuan] Richards [to Chelsea] and [Kaheim] Dixon [to Charlton Athletic] have shown that ISSA can make positive contributions to our national programmes — and at age 14 not many players are connected to clubs,” Ricketts said.

“All of them ought to be in school so, based on that, it’s very important we establish a relationship with ISSA — and we must now build a strong youth programme and grass roots. It is incumbent on us to ensure we meet with the schools, work with the schools, identify the talents from within the schools, so that we can have them in an organised setting so that they’re properly coached.”

Ricketts is also urging the national youth team coaches to implement a style of play among all teams which will be beneficial in the long term.

“There are a number of young bright coaches. As it is now, [Andrew] Peart heads the Under-14 technical staff — Vassell [Reynolds] is part of the set-up — Freddy Butler is coaching the Under 17s. And all these coaches must work closely to ensure there’s a philosophy amongst all of these players that they play the same way so they can make the transition from Under-14 to Under-15 to Under-17 to Under-20 — hence we have a strong youth programme heading into our senior men’s programme,” he said.

The JFF boss says a similar emphasis will also be placed on the women’s programme.

“We must also pay some attention to our youth female teams. The issue is affordability, because when you have five teams on either side of the gender then it’s going to present another challenge, but we’re bracing for it. We’re hoping corporate Jamaica will come on board; we’re getting support from our parent organisation,” said Ricketts.

Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association President Keith Wellington (Photo: Observer file)