AS GUYANA’S Under-17 football team, dubbed the Junior Jaguars, prepare to depart these shores for Trinidad and Tobago where they will be competing against the host country and two other countries in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-17 World Cup qualifiers, both the manager and the coach expressed confidence of victory. Speaking at the press conference which was held in the boardroom of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday morning, Carlos Bernard (manager) and Sampson Gilbert (coach) said they had all reasons to back their team to do well.
According to Bernard and Gilbert, the 18-man squad – which was announced and approved by acting president of the GFF, Franklyn Wilson – and the reserves were involved in a number of weekend camps in Linden, but had to relocate to the Garden City, following the recent incidents in the mining town.
“The team’s preparation began on May 26 at the National Gymnasium, where 28 players who came from as far as Essequibo, Bartica and Berbice, and participated in a beep test, following which the encampment period began from June 1” said Bernard.
He added, “The fact that exams were being held when we began our preparations, we were forced to design a programme that only allowed us to be encamped at weekends, unlike the past –  as this is the third year we are working with the team – where we would run off a two-week encampment period.
“This would give us enough time to be with the players, while the coaches would have been able to put in all the necessary work. But with the guys sitting their exams, we had to divert to something new, hence the weekend camps were held from June 1 up to July 2 while the final preparations of the team commenced from July 15.”
Bernard said the team was housed at the Watooka Guest House, while they used the Bayroc and Wisburg grounds to execute their field work, for which he expressed thanks to the staff of both facilities for graciously allowing the team to use them.
While no player suffered injuries during the encampment period or even when the unrest broke out in Linden, Bernard said they were forced to use the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) ground to finish off their preparations, prior to relocating to Georgetown.
In his brief remarks, Gilbert said the progress made by the players in both the physical and technical areas, gave him the privilege to express his confidence of success ahead of the tour.
“I must say that initially, we were scheduled to train at the LTI ground but due to the weather conditions, we were forced to revert to the other two grounds that were mentioned by the manager, as their sandy base allowed for fast drainage, which meant we could have used the venue even when it rained.
“In terms of the players’ fitness and technical abilities, they was no big capacity for us prior to being in camp, as we had set things in place for their fitness level to be at a specific stage as required for international competition,” stated Gilbert.
“The weekend camp was done because school was still in session and it was not possible for us to keep the players encamped and still had them attend school, as the logistics would have been cumbersome so we had four sessions every weekend.”
Gilbert said the squad and management staff travelled to Upper Demerara on Fridays and managed to get in a session the same afternoon, followed by two sessions on Saturday and one the following day before departing for home.
He said preparation for any tournament at this level is done in four stages, namely the physical, technical, physcological and social aspects, while they tried to institute a training programme that covers the holistic development of the players, not just their on-the-field performance, but off-field as well.
“Because this is an Under-17 team, we just don’t wish to develop their football alone, but their personality to go along with it. The four pillars which are the foundation at this level are physical, technical, physcological and then social aspects.
“We are working not just on football development, but their etiquette and how they socialise with one another and try to mould them psychologically, so that they can see themselves as ambassadors of the country on and off the field,” stated Gilbert.
The coach also took the time to express sympathy to the family of Kareem Knights, a midfielder on the squad, who lost his father during the encampment period, but still managed to muster up the courage to continue with the intense preparation for the tournament.
Wilson said the GFF was very grateful to the various Sub-Associations who put in a sterling effort to make the Federation’s Under-17 Inter-Association tournament a success.
He also heaped praise on Scotiabank and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) through their Pepsi brand, for their School Academy Programme, along with telecommunications service provider, who recently completed their second annual Inter-secondary School Football Championships.
According to Wilson, the GFF selected the squad from which the final 18 were chosen, from these tournaments and while he was grateful for their support, he was thankful for the support shown by the various communities, villages, schools, head teachers and players at the games.
The Junior Jaguars will go into action next Tuesday (July 24), when they take on Suriname from 17:00hrs, followed by their clash against British Virgin Islands on Wednesday (July 26) at the same time and their final encounter against Trinidad and Tobago’s Junior Soca Warriors on Friday July 28 from 19:00hrs.
The squad with their positions in brackets and management team reads: Jason Cromwell and Daniel English (goalkeepers), Shamar Richards, Trevor Jones, Robert Christiani, Troy Lewis, Stefan Enoe and Cedric Osborne (defenders), Myles Albert, Paul Miggins, Keiron Solomon and Mark Wrong, Kellon Primo, Kareem Knights and Nicosie Denny (midfielders) and Jermaine Fletcher, Frank Parks and Christopher Bacchus (forwards). Carlos Bernard (manager), Sampson Gilbert (coach) and Michelle Jackman (Medical personnel)