By Rawle Toney

WHEN Guyana Football Federation (GFF) announced Lady Jags’ roster for their campaign in the 2019 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship qualifiers, the absence of one of the country’s most talented young female players, Jalade Trim, did not go unnoticed.

Trim, who recently turned 14, since bursting onto the National scene in 2017 during Guyana’s hosting of the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Caribbean Qualifier Tournament, has been the talk of local football as she mesmerised the crowd with her first touch and technical ability.

Last year, the GFF Junior female football Player-of-the-Year for 2017, joined players from 211 countries in Russia as one of Guyana’s representatives at the 2018 Football for Friendship which was hosted during the staging of the FIFA World Cup.

Dr Ivan Joseph, head coach of Guyana Women’s U-20 team, responding to Chronicle Sport about Trim’s snub, while showering the Kwakwani resident with praises, reasoned that “when we looked and we talked about it, Jalade is 14 years old and you need to be intentional when you’re bringing a player in. When you’re 14 years old, that’s a big jump for you to be making to a U-20 team,”

According to Dr Joseph, “While the intention is that she probably technically is able to play here (in this tournament) and make significant contribution, as a sports psychologist, I don’t want to rush somebody that’s talented. I would rather be patient, than deliberate and intentional.”

Dr Joseph pointed out that set to play in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2019 Girls’ Under-14 Challenge Series, August 5-13 in Grenada, Trim will play a key role in the team, pointing out that “it will be her time to shine”.

“So not making the U-20 is not a snub on her skill. It’s more really me as head coach of the senior women’s programme, being intentional on how we expose her to football, to make sure she comes and shines, not just technically but physically as well,” said Dr Joseph.