Dear Editor,
A total of 6 matches was played over three days at the National Stadium, Providence, in the recently concluded Group C of the CFU Under-20 World Cup qualifiers. It entailed each of four participating countries, namely, Grenada, Guyana (host), Jamaica and the US Virgin Islands, playing each other once in a round-robin play-off and the eventual winner advancing to the CONCACAF qualifiers.
Incidentally, on the final evening, I took a taxi to the venue and paid my $1,000 entrance fee as one of the few hundred spectators to view the feature match of the double header, Guyana v Jamaica , which the latter won convincingly by a 2-0 margin. Jamaica rightly deserved to emerge as the group winner.
However, before I divulge the stark realities of the situation as it unfolded in relation to Guyana’s preparation and subsequent performance, may I seize this opportunity to offer my heartiest congratulations to the coaching and managerial staff, for helping to ensure their charges copped the runner-up spot, thereby enabling them to advance to the next stage. This is more especially so as they were given a ‘basket to fetch water’ by the GFF.
Here we have a national governing body which is over 100 years old; receives $50,000,000 in an annual subvention from FIFA for development; is without a Technical Director; and under-pays its Technical Development Officer and Tournament and Competitors Coordinator, both of whom are also underutilized. To crown it off, no association for this year has completed an under-20 tournament, much less started one. Can this earn Guyana championship honours?
In actuality how could cohesiveness among the players have been achieved, when for instance the captain would have played his last competitive match prior to encampment on January 1, 2010 in the K &S final for Western. And with no organized football in Georgetown for the entire year, then maybe quite a few more players would have found themselves in a similar predicament. The TCC would be the fitting person to outline technically the lost hours in competitive matches and training as a result of no football.
By comparison, Telson McKinnon, a national under-20 and a member of GDF would be expected to play 18 national league matches and probably 8 in knockout competitions. This makes a total of 26 in a season, equivalent to 2,340 playing minutes, not inclusive of participation in the GFA under-20 competition. Editor, in a national squad of 22 players, how many more can fulfil this?
A total of 38 goals was scored in the 6 matches, averaging 6.2 goals per match. Eventual group winners, Jamaica, scored the lion’s share of 21, while conceding the last 1, for a goal difference of 20, representing more than 50% of the goals scored. Remarkable indeed!
But in the words of the coach, the only setback Jamaica suffered, “was a slight effect in training one week prior to departure, as a result of a tropical storm. However, the school’s championship is up and running in Jamaica.” What do we have in Guyana? For 2010 absolutely nothing!
Yours faithfully,
Lester Sealey
