Footballers juggle jobs to survive
Published: Sunday | February 8, 2009
File photos
LEFT: Norman Foster of Seba United says low pay in Jamaica's premier league is forcing him to reconsider his career.
Other from left are footballers, Ricardo Taylor and Kirk Porter, as well as administrators, Seaga, Clarke and Jureidini.
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
When the cheers die down, stadia are empty and today's headlines wear off, many footballers in Jamaica's premier league go home to do head-scratching numbers crunching to eke out survival for the following day.
Although football is Jamaica's most popular sport, the trickle-down effects of sparse sponsorship and skyscraper operational bills are punching holes in the pockets of many players.
Kirk Porter, Boys' Town's goalie, said he is struggling to subsist from a monthly salary of $32,000, which he sometimes does not receive on time.
"It's two months we are not paid, so it's difficult to get on. But we are still doing well as a team because it's not all about money," lamented Porter in late January.
Boys' Town occasionally hosts fund-raising activities to keep the club afloat, but with December's event said to have been a failure, the club (located in Trench Town, a low-income Kingston community) is finding it difficult to woo sponsorship in an economic climate which has seen businesses trimming production and manpower.
With the Jamaican economy hit by a battery of bombshells, as well as the local currency on the skids against the greenback, further financial fallout looms. As payroll problems mount and sales slump, sports sponsorship is not exactly on the front burner of CEOs consumed with stanching budget bleeds.
Shelved plans
Porter, a Tivoli High graduate who said he has been forced to balance football with barbering, has also halted plans to pursue advanced studies because of the unstable economy.
Andre Hickling, 28, striker for Digicel Premier League newbies, Meadhaven United, said that his only driving passion - despite current meagre monthly earnings of $10,000 - is the ambition for international experience.
"If I were only playing for money, I would already dismiss myself from the team. But I love what I am doing and I have faith that I will reach another level," he explained.
Financial woes have also torpedoed plans for home ownership, said Hickling, who has a family of three. For now, he said he has no plans to abandon premier league football, but is seeking alternative avenues to boost earnings.
However, Ricardo Taylor, 23, of St Georges, and 39-year-old Norman Foster of Seba United have opted for what they term a more pragmatic approach. They said with salaries at rock bottom, they are seriously considering a career change.
"Although I would like to reach the highest level in football, if the salary package doesn't improve, I will have to move to more meaningful ventures," said Taylor, who bags $35,000 per month.
Foster, who supplements his income with carpentry, said survival on local football's biggest stage is impractical.
Despite his love for the game and his team, he admitted that he would seize any viable job opportunity. But with pink slips piling up across the formal economy, employment prospects have never been grimmer.
"Football is my main priority and I am doing the best I can, but if opportunity comes, I will have to take it," said Foster. "I am not getting younger and I have a lot to achieve in life."
nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com
As lightweight pay cheques sap the passion of some Digicel Premier League footballers, club managers say they are working overtime to keep players focused and committed.
Clyde Jureidini, general manager of former champions Harbour View, said although salaries are not keeping in step with the cost of living, he pressed players to keep their eyes on a bigger goal - a call-up to the Reggae Boyz or to top-level clubs in Europe or North America.
Long-term benefits
"They are always reminded of their personal achievements. High-level performance can get them called into the national team, where their talents would be recognised," said Jureidini.
The recruitment of Harbour View's favourite son, Ricardo 'Bibi' Gardner, in 1998 is proof of Jureidini's faith.
Gardner, current captain of Jamaica's senior team, was netted by English premiership side Bolton Wanderers for £1 million.
Meanwhile, Clive Marshall, general manager of Portmore United, said he, too, constantly reminded footballers of the long-term benefits.
"I have to get them to appreciate what they love, and to do their best by preparing their minds for the long-term benefits of the sport," Marshall told The Gleaner.
Salaries at Portmore United range from $15,000-$70,000 monthly, depending on players' rankings and status.
Harbour View's monthly player pay also tops out at $70,000. That's a far cry from the £13.28-million annual pay carrot that Manchester City, a Barclays Premier League side, dangled before Brazilian superstar Kaka. And he turned it down.
Alrick Clarke, coach of first-time Premier League entrants Meadhaven United, said his teamsters are no less dedicated despite the shortage of funds.
"They commit themselves to Meadhaven, although it is slow in development. They realise that it's not about the level they are now, but it's about their future development," he said.
Members are willing to make the sacrifice, Clarke said. Sacrifice indeed, as players take home $15,000-$30,000 a month.
Salaries on par
However, Edward Seaga, president of the Premier League Clubs Association and boss of the Tivoli Gardens Football Club, defended team administrations, saying salaries were on par with many other jobs in society.
"At present, it costs $4 million to $5 million per annum to maintain a club and, of this, 90 per cent is used for salary and other benefits of the players," stated Seaga.
He said club sponsorship and footballers' pay have improved since the PLCA took control of sponsorship funding in June 2007, which was previously the domain of the Jamaica Football Federation.
Back then, Seaga said, only $700,000 was allocated by the JFF to clubs.
"They don't play for money alone," insisted Seaga, a former prime minister. "They love the game and they move on with the goal to reach higher levels, such as the national team, so they work with the salary issue at the back of their mind."
nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com
