KINGSTON, Jamaica — Reggae Boyz Captain Andre Blake said better practice pitches are needed to put the team on par with other international players, who practise and play on the best pitches in the world.

Blake made the call during the team’s courtesy visit to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport today before their departure for the Gold Cup in the United States.

The Reggae Boyz captain also explained that the improvements were not just about more money.

In response, Portfolio Minister Olivia Grange vowed to find ways to improve the poor playing surfaces and other deficiencies in sports infrastructure.

“My government is determined to make sure the country has the kind of facilities that would equip our sports people to compete with the best in the world,” she said.

The minister also pointed to her open-door policy. “You can call me at any time and I assure that I will respond. Any sports person is free to ask for dialogue with me as the minister with portfolio responsibility for sport,” Grange told the gathering.

The sport minister also encouraged those Reggae Boys who were not registered with the Jamaica Athletes’ Insurance Plan to hurry and submit their names.

She said every sport person competing for Jamaica ought to make sure that he or she is on the Athletes’ Group Life and Health Insurance Plan.

Grange told the members to stay focused and apply what she termed, “the edge” to their game and they would excel in their opening match against Curacao in San Diego, California on Sunday.

She reminded the group that Jamaica is seen as that “awesome little dot on the map and sports helped to make it that.” 


For his part, Coach Theodore Whitmore thanked the minister for agreeing to meet with the Reggae Boyz as a motivational ‘send-off’ to the team to the Gold Cup.