Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

Powell

In the late 1980s into the 1990s, western Jamaica was king of the country's football. After winning its first national title in 1987 through Seba United, the region had a stranglehold on it for over a decade. In that time, only two teams outside of western Jamaica, Hazard and Boys' Town, managed to win titles.

That era also saw a plethora of western players such as Paul 'Tegat' Davis, Winston Anglin, Hector Wright, Donald Hewitt, Durrent Brown, Warren Barrett, Linval Wilson, Steve Malcolm and, of course, Theodore Whitmore, making their mark on the national team.

The year 2007 seems almost a century from that time with only Westmoreland's Reno showing true life, while Seba United just managed to stay in the National Premier League while Wadadah went down. Again.

A number of reasons have been posited for this decline, especially in St. James, but if Orville Powell, president of the St. James Football Association has his way, bright days are ahead.

Powell, a relative newcomer to football administration, is of the view that only a wholesale approach can stop the rot. His first point of action will be coaching.

"Coaching is a problem and we want to correct that. Those who are teaching our youth have to have a mastery of the game from the basic level or else it will make no sense," said Powell, who is also an executive of Seba United, the only St. James club that will be playing in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League this season.

That work, Powell said, has already begun with the analysis of data.

"Right now we are inthe process of identifying the people that are in need of certification. When we have all our information in place we will organise with the Jamaica Football Federation to have them certified at Level I.

"We have been to most of the schools within the parish already and our aim is that by next year this time all schools will not be able to participate in any Under-13 competition unless the team is being coached by someone with at least a Level I certificate. That is where we are looking right now, and we have the support of the schools," Powell said.

Lack of talent

According to Powell, the problem in St. James is not a lack of talent, but a lack of a proper system in place to get the talent to come to the fore.

"If we are dealing with the youth then things will have to be done properly. As it is now we have people all over the parish who are teaching children and they do not know what they are teaching. They are teaching them the wrong things.

"When these youngsters get to the daCosta Cup level and the Premier League level it is hell to get the bad habits and the wrong learning out of them," explained Powell, who added that the programme of recovery will be a comprehensive one.

Once the primary level has been sorted out, the secondary level is next. At that stage, Powell said all coaches within the parish coaching in high schools will be required to have a Level II certificate, one level above that required by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association.

"Level I is just about attendance, participation and exposure. It does not call for anything really. You do not have to pass any examination to be certified. Level II is harder and would not be dealt with at the parish level. This would either have to be done at the GC Foster College or at the JFF," said Powell, who replaced Lennox Wallace as president of the St. James Football Association in November last year.

The ladder of improvement will not end with Level II certification as, according to the businessman, there are a number of coaches with Level II certification for too long They too will be encouraged to continue to upgrade themselves.

As with any sport, quality of performance by the athletes will not improve if officiating lags behind. They will be brought in the loop.

Abuse of referees

"The sad thing is that the referees have been an organisation operating too far from the general body. That will have to change if the parish's football is to be on a level with the better performing parishes or even to surpass them," said Powell whose disciplinary arm has to, from time to time, be dealing with incidents where players and officials are accused of abusing referees. Charges of dishonesty, incompetence and outright bias are some of the accusations that have been levelled against the referees and for Powell this cannot be.

"The FA is usually the body that recommends referees for promotion, though not the only one. We want to bring everything under one umbrella. We want to set up a system where they (the referees) have an appraisal outside of the referees group, which will help to make the whole process more transparent. Officiating is a part of the football and in the same way that we want the football to improve we want refereeing to be in step too.

"Ultimately, as far as officiating is concerned, we want, in a very short time, to have no less than two FIFA referees from our parish," he stated.

While the quality of refereeing is not where he would like to see it, Powell saw some positives in a drive being made to get more youngsters involved in officiating.

"We applaud the work that we see being done in terms of the recruitment of youngsters, but it has to be more than that," he pointed out.

In looking at the country's football, Powell said clubs such as Harbour View, Portmore United and to a lesser extent the trio of Tivoli Gardens, Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens have the right formula in terms of how clubs should operate.

"In St. James we have to get proper structures in place for the clubs. We are in the process of getting allthe clubs to set up an executive with clearly defined roles for the members. We want all the teams that are participating in the St. James competitions to understand that they cannot be mere teams anymore, they have to be clubs," said Powell.

These clubs, he added, will have to have proper mailing addresses and regular minuted meetings.

Sponsors too will have to play a greater role in how football is run.

Sponsors

"What we proposed to the sponsors is to get them more involved. Yes, they have put up prize moneys, but the rest of it is left up to the mercy of the teams to find monies to pay referees and transportation and all of this money is coming out of the already impoverished communities.

"I am not saying that the sponsors are benefiting greatly and not giving back. But they need to be seen more in these communities with their banners and products displayed. People will associate themselves more with their products and be loyal to them. I want them to put up more than their money," he outlined.

The sponsors he said could also have their good name cemented further in the psyche of the people if they get social agents such as the Jamaica Aids Support, National Health Fund and the National Housing Trust to work alongside them.

That Powell said could have the effect of increased crowd size, greater visibility for sponsors and the communities benefiting tangibly.

"This will be a win win," he concluded confidently.