……as told by coach Wendell  Downswell
ON November 16, 1997 when Jamaica drew 0-0 with Mexico at the National Stadium in Kingston an entire nation erupted in unison, the Reggae Boyz created history by becoming the first English-speaking country to qualify for the World Cup finals.
In his book “One Love, the Reggae Boyz: an incredible soccer journey”, former Reggae Boy, Robbie Earle wrote “The football team has generated more positive publicity for a place blighted by poverty and violence than the Tourist Office could ever dream of…..The Reggae Boyz have brought unity to a population divided along social and political lines. More than anything, though, we have made Jamaicans feel proud”.
Long before that memorable day in November of 1997 the Island was making waves and achieving success on the International scene in other sporting disciplines, chief among them Athletics.
Since the 1948 London Olympics when Arthur Wint won Gold in the 400M to become the first Gold medalist for Jamaica, the country has accumulated 17 more Gold, 29 Silver and 30 Bronze medals to become a top nation in the world, inclusive of the fastest 100M runner ever, Usain Bolt.
Of course the country also blessed the Region and the World with other sporting giants – George Headley, Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh (Cricket), Patrick Ewing (Basketball), Orville Haslam (Table-tennis and Squash), Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, Johnny Barnes and more in football to mention a few.
Just recently the Jamaican national U-20 footballers visited Guyana and conquered all their opponents to easily win Group ‘C’ of the CFU preliminaries.
This afforded the Guyanese public a glimpse, for the first time since 1973, of a Jamaican side in action. It also gave me the opportunity to speak with the Head Coach of the young Reggae Boyz, Wendell Downswell.
The Westmorelander, who also represented Jamaica and was part of the Reno FC side which was the first club side in Jamaica to win three consecutive Premier League titles was loud in praises for the gift of the GC Foster school of Physical Education by the Cuban Government to the people of Jamaica.
“The whole approach to sports in Jamaica has been revolutionised by the establishment of the G.C. Foster School of Physical Education, donated by the Cubans in 1980.The impact has been tremendous. I am proud to say that I was among the first batch of students to attend the Institution,” Downswell informed.
“This Institution continues to play a great part in developing coaches and complimented by a level of respect and recognition for sports in the country we continue to produce quality athletes.”
“Inter school sports in Jamaica is no ordinary thing, the Boys and Girls Athletics Championships and Inter schools football are the biggest events in Jamaica and lays the platform for our athletes.
It would be nice for other Caribbean countries to participate just to experience these events as it is an experience that cannot be described.”
Downswell, who guided Jamaica to its first appearance at a World Cup U-20 Finals in Argentina in 2001, also cited neglect of producing Coaches in the Region as a setback, “Coaches development in the Caribbean is sadly lacking.
Jamaica and T&T and to a lesser extent Cuba have some qualified coaches.
In Jamaica we have established a Coaching School for Football at the University of the West Indies, hence for you to Coach in the schools you must acquire a level 1 certificate which takes about two weeks.
We have two modules which the course is based on –Technical and Science. The following year the Coach can take the Advance Level 2 course which can land him a job with a Premier League side. All coaches in the Schools and Premier League are paid a decent salary.”
The solidly built Downswell who is one of the Lecturers at the Coaching school thinks that there is a lot to be done to advance Caribbean football, “We have a lot of work to do in terms of developing players in the Region from a technical and tactical standpoint. Physically we are there as we are natural athletes, but to meaningfully progress the sport we must organize and structure.”
“We have infrastructure and organisation in Jamaica, but there is room for improvement. We must cater for all age groups so that we can have a greater volume of players to transfer to the next level and also give the clubs a larger volume of quality players to choose from”
“We have lots of talent in the Region, but lack of financial resources is a major stumbling block in development. The USA doesn’t have talent like we in the Region but they are able to produce quality players because they have the necessary financial backing to harness the skills,” Downswell lamented.
“Inadequate financial support and politics have helped to slow down the development of the sport in Jamaica. Team preparation is a costly one and so support is needed, especially Government and Corporate support. I honestly feel Governments in the Region should take on the responsibility of financing the salaries of Coaches.”
“I think CARICOM and the CFU should work more closely together if we are serious about Caribbean integration and football among other sports could be used as the vehicle for the process.
We need to set up a Regional schools football tournament like we have set up for Athletics with the Junior CARIFTA Games. The more exposure the players get the more their abilities will improve. The dismantling of the Caribbean Pro League was a big blow to football in the Region.”
Downswell who has been working with the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) since 1995 was also at the helm when Jamaica captured Silver at the Pan Am Games in Brazil two years ago.
He added that football has been used in Jamaica to take the many youths off the streets of crime and provided them with an alternative avenue. In conclusion, Downswell stated that vision and organizational skills along with finance are the keys to Sports Development.