Jamaica blames inadequate preparation for poor showing

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Jamaica’s coach, Carl Brissett, has blamed a lack of adequate preparation for his team’s poor performance in the just-concluded West Indies Under-15 Tournament.

Jamaica, the host, finished a disappointing fifth in the six-team tournament after amassing one win and four losses.

“We have to go back and revisit our method of preparation,” said Brissett.

“We need to start earlier, identify the boys earlier, get them together and get to know their strengths and weaknesses full-time. Getting the boys two or three weeks before a competition is not good enough”.

Jamaica finished with 18.3 points, 20.7 points less than fourth-placed and dethroned champions Barbados.

“One of the reasons is that they are used to their school coaches telling them one thing, and when they come to the national set-up, a lot of the boys’ coaches are just physical education teachers, some of whom don’t know the game as such”, said Brissett .

“So when they come to the national programme and you try to break them in the right way, they struggle. They have to be thinking. Which way is better for me? Is it the way of my coach at school or the national coach, and they end up in a limbo and struggle.”