Reggae Boyz waltz to 6th Caribbean Cup triumph

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1 NOVEMBER 2014, VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11, CARIBBEAN FOOTBALL UNION NEWSLETTER ARTICLES 3 Soca Queens Target Historic World Cup Berth 4 Football in Guyana to see brighter days 5 Highlights of the Men s Caribbean Cup 6 Sharlene Pond the star of Women s Football in BVI Reggae Boyz waltz to 6th Caribbean Cup triumph T he Jamaica Senior National Men s team (the Reggae Boyz) captured the 2014 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Cup by defeating old rivals Trinidad & Tobago, 4-3 on penalties, in the final at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James, Jamaica on November 18th, before a capacity filled stadium. Champions Jamaica This marked the sixth occasion that the Reggae Boyz lifted the coveted regional trophy. The proud Jamaicans have thus booked their tickets to the CONCACAF Gold Cup to be staged in CFU President Gordon Derrick praised the Reggae Boyz for their success. We had a high level of competition from start to finish and the best team won so I am proud. I wish all of the teams going on to the Gold Cup the best of luck and to those who fell short, better luck next time, said the President. Further, the Winfried Schaefer-coached outfit ensured they will match skills with their more accomplished CONCACAF counterparts in a special edition of the 2016 Copa America Centenario which is scheduled to be staged in the United States. In the third-place play-off, Haiti clipped Cuba 2-1 courtesy of strikes from Jerome Mechack in the 56th and Wilde Donald Guerrier in the 86th minute. Jeniel Marquez Molina notched a consolation for Cuba a minute before full-time. Cont d page 2

2 Champions Jamaica...cont d Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti and Cuba also qualified for the Gold Cup, while the fifth-place team in the tournament, French Guiana, will tackle another fifth-place team from UNCAF in a home-and-away series, with the winner to likewise earn a spot at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. With the benefit of home advantage, the Jamaicans dominated possession for the majority of the game, with the Soca Warriors content to soak up the pressure and rally with the occasional counter attack. However, neither was able to find the back of the net, which forced extra-time. Still at a goalless stalemate after an additional half-hour, the dreaded penalty shoot-out was enacted. Jermaine Taylor, Joel McAnuff, Demar Phillips and Austin scored their free kicks. However, despite similar successes for Ataulla Guerra, Kevin Melino and Joevin Jones, the Soca Warriors agonisingly succumbed 4-3. The Reggae Boyz, who entered the Caribbean Cup competition languishing in an embarrassing 113th place on the FIFA Coca Cola Rankings, are expected to make a significant leap when the next ratings are released. T&T are currently at a respectable 49th. After the exciting shoot-out victory, a delighted Schaefer said: This team is fantastic, everybody should be proud of this team. I am very proud of this team. I have won the African Cup, the Caribbean Cup, the Dubai Cup, I am very proud of my team, they are fantastic and we have to do all that is necessary for this team, or else we go down. According to victorious skipper Austin, I was honestly surprised at the level of fitness of the Trinidad & Tobago team because they had more rest than us, but we dug deep as a team and did well and we found out they were tired, so we started to attack them. But both teams defended well. Added the tournament MVP: We got a few better chances than them but we didn t take them. Having said that, we re happy we won the tournament. It s a good thing for the country. This team deserves to be praised. The back line has been fantastic, the goalkeeper also, that s what won us the tournament and we just have to grow from this. We re always going to have critics in football and as a nation Jamaicans like to do well, and it is always pressure to do well because the people want to have the best team and sometimes we are not even the best players, but the people have big expectations. Now we have shown here when we get support, the first couple games we didn t have a lot of people in the stands and we reached the final and the stands were full, so we just want the people behind us to support us and we will try our best to give back to them. It s good to be the MVP, but I couldn t have done it without my teammates, he asserted. Darren Mattocks, the joint winner of the Golden Boot Award, chimed in: It was a total team effort. I have to be grateful to God, but I have to be grateful to my teammates as well. After the first game there were some doubters, but as in football and life in general, you are going to have ups and downs and when your back is against the wall and no one believes in you that is when you have to rise and show what you are capable of doing, and even though it is the Caribbean Cup, we showed what we are capable of doing. Meanwhile, impressive Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake, who deservedly copped the Golden Glove accolade, was hailed by players and fans alike as his heroics in the penalty shoot-out helped secure the important victory for the Reggae Boyz. T&T head coach Stephen Hart was gracious in defeat. Jamaica, as expected played very well through the counter-attacks. They pushed the ball past the midfield and supported it quickly and got some good looks early in the first half and, quite frankly, we never really found our rhythm. We were playing too many long hopeful balls and weren t winning the second balls At half-time I tried to get the players to sharpen up and move the ball quicker, but in the end we just couldn t find a way out. If you look at the Jamaica squad they have a number of players who are playing consistently with their clubs and we were the opposite. At the awards ceremony staged afterwards, Mattocks was joined by Trinidad & Tobago s Kevin Molino and Haiti s Kervens F Belfort as the leading goal scorers with three goals apiece; while Haiti captured the Fair Play Award. 2

3 Soca Queens target Historic World Cup berth Trinidad & Tobago women s senior team are a win away from reaching the FIFA World Cup Finals in Canada next year. They tackle South American outfit Ecuador in their return-leg two-way play-off at the Hasely Crawford Stadium game in Port of Spain on Tuesday, December 2. The teams drew level 0-0 in their first meeting earlier this month in Ecuador. If T&T qualify, it would be one of the highlight performances of teams from the Caribbean of late, and would also make a bold statement about the rapid development of female football in the region. The CFU BEACON spoke to Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Association (TTFA) Raymond Tim Kee recently. We are indeed immensely proud to be in this position again. It s the first time for us in the women s game but we ve been here before in 2005 with the men s senior team when we booked our place for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and then we were so close in 1989 for the World Cup in Italy, he said. We ve made good strides in our development in the women s game in spite of our challenges for financing. What these women have done has shown that with hard work, perseverance and belief, you can achieve despite various setbacks, Kee asserted. Our programmes for all our national teams have brought some fruit, he said with pride. When you look at our men s senior team finishing second in the Caribbean Cup and our men s Under-20 winning the Caribbean title and going through to the CONCACAF Finals with our Under-17s, plus our other age group teams on the women s side have also done well. But giving the country something to celebrate and the chance to create history on Tuesday is definitely on top of the list for us at the moment, he revealed. Meanwhile, Coach Randy Waldrum told the BEACON that: It s a game like no other in that it s 90 minutes or more of football between two teams. But for us there is a huge significance Trinidad Women Senior in USA because of what is at stake. I know the players and the people of the country are very excited, but from a team perspective, we have got to ensure that we do things the right way and not allow the occasion to get the better of us. It s been a good week of preparation so far having everyone together again since the first leg in Ecuador. I think it s going to be possibly our best squad yet with all the injury problems we ve had in the past and the absence of some of the US-based players from the first leg. I m happy about that and we re going to continue putting in the work to ensure we can give it our best shot on Tuesday and come away with the result that will take us through to the World Cup, he said. Meanwhile, team captain Maylee Attin-Johnson expressed her passion for the upcoming match while pointing out a few things. It s the biggest game for all of us in our careers so far. But I ve said to my teammates that while we are one win away from a World Cup, we haven t accomplished anything as yet. We have to remain focused on the task at hand which is getting a victory on Tuesday to qualify for the Women s World Cup next year. The Trinidadians, after copping the 2014 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Championship, performed at their best during the CONCACAF Women s event held in the USA recently and earned the chance to play-off for the FIFA Finals. The girls travelled to Ecuador and despite being not familiar with the high altitude, were able to share the points with their more acclimatized challengers. 3 Cont d page 4

4 Soca Queens...cont d With home advantage and the anticipated overwhelming support from the revelling soca fans, the home team will just have to play its part in taking the three points and separate themselves from their opponents to advance to the prestigious Finals. Trinidad and Tobago has its eyes set on this glorious moment and are in the process of preparing the women mentally and Football in Guyana to see brighter days physically to get the job done. This would indeed be a signal moment for these women who played so fearlessly during the Caribbean Cup and CONCACAF Women s Championship. Most of the players have already arrived in the country and have started training for the crucial encounter as they aim to become the first team from the Caribbean to qualify for a Women s World Cup. With the appointment of a Normalization Committee (NC) in October 2014 by the world governing Football Body, FIFA, football in Guyana seems set for a bright future following almost two years of administrative turmoil. Two aborted congresses and a no confidence motion against President of the disbanded executive Christopher Matthias are just a few of the challenges that faced football in Guyana over the past two years. These are issues that the football family would now want to throw away into the dungeon of forgetfulness as they seek, along with the NC to chart a new way forward for the positive progress of the game and to the benefit of all involved, especially the players. NC Chairman, Clinto Urling a successful businessman and former President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce has promised that his team will work assiduously to ensure that the game moves forward and take its rightful place working in tandem with the respective associations of the Guyana Football Federation and guided by FIFA. According to Urling, who met with CONCACAF President Jeff Webb in Miami this month, the guiding philosophy will be hinged on cooperation, unity, rule of law, equality, honesty, accountability and transparency. The NC met with the associates of the GFF on November 24 and during the interactive session, members were told of the way forward and the need to work in unison for the good of the game. Urling told the members that moving forward there would be a collective approach doing a diagnosis of what brought the Federation to where it s at, and working out a strategy to bring it back on course for the better with implementation of that strategy in the long term. Clinton Urling Chairman of the GFA Normalization Committee Among the Broad Focus Areas known as the Pillars are: Constitutional Reform and Elections; Football Issues (Road to 2018 World cup plan, National Teams, Competition, Players, Referees, Coaches, Grassroots); Member Associations and Stakeholders Interaction (Associate members of GFF and interest groups); Administration of GFF (organisational structure, staffing, fiscal responsibility and accountability, governance, New Revenue, Marketing, Events hosting); Infrastructure Development (Goal & Special Project); Sustainability (Strategic Plan). What the membership and Guyana can look forward to in the coming months and years are Reform of GFF Secretariat; Professionally run and managed GFF; full accountability and transparency at GFF; Financial and Technical support from FIFA to develop Football in Guyana; Annual Budget and Football Programme presented early in the year; New and Modern facilities; and Every Regional Association developing a special project. The NC which is responsible for the day to day running of the GFF will be in place until September 2015 at which time they would also oversee the elections of new office administrators for the Guyana Football Federation. The other NC Members are Dr.Karen Pilgrim, Rabin Chandarpal, Stuart May and Tariq Williams 4

5 Highlights of the Men s Caribbean Cup 5

6 Sharlene Pond the star of Women s Football in BVI Marketing Assistant and Medical Insurance Administrator Sharlene Pond is a star in Women s Football in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). When you drop a pebble into a pond, ripples spread out, changing all the water in the pool. This can be said of female footballer, Sharlene Pond who leaves you with the same feeling that her determination to succeed, both on and off the field brought about a positive change as well as clarity to perceptions of what can be achieved through hard work. Her soft-spoken demeanor belies her fierce competitive nature. If you don t know who she is personally you would never realize that this slender, quiet, sincere, almost shy woman is one of the most dedicated, passionate players in the BVI local Women s Football competition. Her quickness, speed and will to succeed have earned her the right to be called one of the best female athletes in the territory. Pond, is not just a formidable footballer, but also found time to continue her Education and combine her love for sports with a single minded determination to succeed in her career, which currently sees her working at Nagico Insurances as a Marketing Assistant and Medical Insurance Administrator. Pond is now a highly respected member of the Ballstarz team, the BVI National Under-20 and the Senior team. She started off her education at the Enis Adams Primary School in 2003, then to the Elmore Stoutt High School where she starred on the track with her amazing turn of speed. I was a Track & Field Athlete for about eight years. I participated in both Inter-primary and Inter-House Track and Field and trained with the Top Notch Track Club while in high school. I am passionate about football. I absolutely love it. I not only play the sport but I watch it as well and would undoubtedly inspire future generations to play the game. Football doesn t take talent only. It takes passion and dedication. Both aspects are needed to be successful in life. Football builds not only 6 Sharlene Pond good team working skills but character as well and teaches one to not only be self-responsible but also to have team reliability. Those I believe are great life skills that a lot of us are lacking, Pond told the BEACON. Pond graduated from the Elmore Stoutt High School in 2008 and spent two years at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College where she was introduced to Football and recruited by the British Virgin Islands Football Association (BVIFA) in Pond is now a highly respected member of the Ballstarz team, the BVI National Under-20 and the Senior team. She is a graduate of the Summa Cum Laude and Monroe College where she did her Bachelor in Business Administration/Management/ Marketing Minor. She is currently combining an arduous work schedule with tough preparation for an upcoming Representation in the Woman s Tournament in St Croix, but in typical demure style doesn t even see the time consuming demands as her toughest challenge. Cont d page 7

7 Sharlene Pond...cont d I am doing a lot of physical fitness training. Strengthening muscles and increasing endurance, but my biggest challenge is influencing other women in the BVI to play football. There are far more men than women in the world playing football. It s the same in the BVI. Women players are outnumber 3-1. Football is not a major sport in our culture like Track & Field, so the real challenge for me is doing my part to change that. Pond went on to acknowledging her biggest break through so far as being given the opportunity to represent the BVI as a player for the BVI Women s National teams. She also said that she intends to give back to the game by becoming a Coach. In the sense of the game of Football, my ultimate goal would have to be coaching. I would love to be able to take my love and knowledge for the game to another level that is coaching. I have the ability to learn and understand the game and pass on my experience She is a stanch follower of the Barcelona and Brazilian team. She pointed out that one of the best advice that she has been given was, I quote Seize the opportunities that are given to you and make every moment count. Giving up should never an option. She also firmly believes the competitive edge to the game creates great friendships and enjoyable rivalries Rivalries are there because of the competition, but it makes the game more interesting as well as growing you as an individual and producing friendships that lasts for life Pond is focused and a leader in the resurgence of the Women s Game in the BVI. While she was off island there was a noticeable drop in football activities for women, but her return has seen a significant increase in participation as well as a renewed belief that the Women will be taken seriously by administrators, fans and sponsors alike. Pond is from a family of six which includes four brothers and one sister. Her parents did well at Track and Field. So far none of her siblings have opted to follow in the footsteps of either of the family sporting disciplines, but it is not too late as they are all at a young stage in their lives. Barbados Football Association unveils new Logo Previous Logo 7

8 For further information please contact the CFU General Secretariat, Communications Department The Towers - 10th Floor 25 Dominica Drive, Kingston 5. Jamaica Tel: +1(876) / 4657 Fax: +1(876) media@cfufootball.org, info@cfufootball.org 8