By: Ras Wadada

ONE of the most commonly used maxims by the management of teams after failure in sports is, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” and in most instances the claim is justifiable, especially, here in Guyana where late and/or poor planning is often linked with preparations.In an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport, rookie Head Coach of the national Under-17 football team, Anthony Stephens, cited inadequate preparation as the main reason for the team just securing one win and losing the other two matches in the just concluded CFU Group Four Preliminary competition staged in St. Thomas, USVI.
“The difference between Guyana and the other participating teams in the group is that we were under-prepared. The Jamaicans were preparing for nine months, Antigua several months and the USVI some three weeks, while we had just about a week and I must admit the team performed well, taking into consideration the short time we had to get ready”, Coach Stephens exclaimed.
“There must be adequate time to adequately prepare the team, tactically, technically, physically and mentally. What makes it more complex is the fact that we have very little youth programmess here in Guyana, so what usually happens is the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) handpicks players and gives you to work with a week or two before the tournament, that is a recipe for failure. As a coach you need to have more inputs in the selection process as well,” Stephens stated.
The final-year student of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Guyana feels that the team possesses a lot of naturally talented players and together with other players who were not selected should be invested in by the federation, since they can serve Guyana well in the future. Coach Stephens also mentioned some of the standouts on the recent tour; Captain Jeremy Garrett, Sese Norville, Cecil Jackman, Akel Forde, Roberto Case, Joshua Ferreira and 14-year-old Tyrell Khan.
“Our programmes or lack of programmes for youth football is non-productive for development and leaves us way behind other countries. We need to put more emphasis on improving our structure for football development from the grassroots level to the youths and right up to the senior nationals”, the coach suggested.
It was Stephens’s first taste of national and international exposure which he described as,”Truly a learning experience that opened my eyes to a lot of things and reminded me that coaching is a continuous evolution with no limits to learning or acquiring knowledge. For instance, technology is a very important component of coaching today.”
Coach Stephens rose to prominence in schools football as he led the Wismar/Christianburg Secondary to consecutive wins in the DIGICEL nationwide tournament. His exploits were recognised and rewarded by the GFF when he was selected to attend the first CONCACAF ‘D’ Licence Coaches Course in 2013 in Aruba. Stephens’s career as a player ended when part of his left leg had to be amputated two weeks after he sustained a compound fracture just above the ankle in a game for his club Blueberry Hill FC against Netrockers in August of 2005. He also represented Upper-Demerara Under-17 and was a member of the third-placed Eagles FC of the 2004 Kashif and Shanghai tournament.
For now, Coach Stephens is focused on guiding the Wismar/Christianburg Secondary to a sixth consecutive DIGICEL Nationwide schools football Championship as today they confront Tutorial Secondary of Berbice in a quarter -final fixture at Wisburg Secondary beginning at 16:00hrs.