NOT MUCH has been made of the failure of Jamaica's Under-20s to make it to the 2005 World Cup in the Netherlands, however, technical director Wendell Downswell has not forgotten them.Downswell, in his report after the team returned from their failed campaign in Honduras, has asked that the Under-20s quality not go to waste and that they be afforded the opportunity to grow into the international game.
Efforts in that direction have already begun, Downswell said.
DRAFTED A NUMBER OF THEM
"We have drafted a number of them (Under-20s) into the senior team so as to help them with the transition to the Under-23s," he said.
"We have the CAC Games in July of 2006 and in 2007 we will have the Pan-Am Games and then the Olympics," explained Downswell.
"The important factor here is to give them the necessary experience and exposure. That is the only way they can learn. The foundation has been laid with them so I hope that we can continue along that trend so that by the year 2010 we will have a wide variety of quality talent to choose from," said Downswell, thinking of Jamaica's next World Cup campaign.
With that in mind, talk has surfaced about the Under-20s making a 13th team in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League, an idea that is supported by Downswell.
"I wouldn't mind if they could play because if you could get them to play together on a regular basis ... that would lend itself to total development," said Downswell.
He also said he had made the step towards putting this idea on the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) agenda.
"I have put that in my recommendations after the Under-20s had finished and I am appealing to corporate Jamaica to lend its support because what has happened is that the senior team, which is the icon, gets the funding and whatever else is left filters down to the younger guys.
"What we would really like is sponsorship just for youth development. So we don't have to depend on the senior team. This will ensure that Jamaica's football will have a bright future," Downswell said.
P.A.W.
