THE National Under-17 football squad to prepare for the Caribbean Football Union/CONCACAF tournament is to be named by June 15. This is according to Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) executive member Keith O’Jeer.

O’Jeer says the squad will comprise 26 to 30 players drawn from the various associations that contested the just concluded GFF National U nder-17 tournament which was won by the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) last Sunday.
He explained that there were scouts at every match looking for the talented players and they will submit the names of the players from the various associations that they feel are good enough to try out for the national team that will represent Guyana at the CFU/CONCACAF championship in a host country still to be announced.
O’Jeer noted the competition is scheduled to commence in the middle of August but could not give a definitive starting date or the group that Guyana have been drawn in.
He said the technical director and head coach have already been identified and when the squad is named, the players will undergo a six-week training camp before departing Guyana for the host country on August 18.
O’Jeer informed that the coaching staff, inclusive of the technical director and team manager, will comprise nine persons and that a lot of data will be collected prior to appointing these persons.
“It’s not about looking at a coach’s personality and ability to coach, but to get data information about the person’s background,” O’Jeer stated, adding “this is a key factor, since we don’t have Sky TV to see how many passes were made during a game etc. The main emphasis will be teamwork. This information has already been discussed with the technical director Mark Rodrigues and he has been discussing all of these issues with GFF Technical Development Officer Linden France.”
Asked about the budget for the six-week training camp, O’Jeer referred Chronicle Sport to GFF’s president Christopher Matthias who said it might amount to approximately $11M, but he is not too certain.
O’Jeer informed that the coaching staff will be issued contracts by June 15 as they will receive a stipend for the services the render.
He noted that the stipend for coaches and other members of the management team has increased by a minimum 100 percent and a maximum 200 percent, “which is still not enough, but because of financial constraints, we’re not able to provide more than that,” O’Jeer informed.
According to the GFF executive member, the GFF is taking a structured approach to see where the federation went wrong in the past, and where it is headed.
He said the Federation has covered every area that needs to be covered and that the coaching staff will go through a developmental programme, since there will most likely be young coaches who will be chosen based on their potential.
O’Jeer noted that Rodrigues has come up with a programme for the entire coaching staff which will be made up of local coaches instead of having foreign coaches brought here.
Rodrigues in a telephone conversation said if the need arises for foreign coaches to be brought here it will not be at the expense to the GFF, as he will foot the bill.
According to O’Jeer, Rodrigues plans on taking four local coaches to attend a coaching camp at his academy which is situated in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA.
Written By Michael DaSilva