Mount Pleasant target EPL coach

New Mount Pleasant Academy chairman Peter Mair says that the new additions to their board of directors and their intention to bolster their coaching staff with a top Barclays Premier League coach form part of the club's drive to develop the young players at the academy to a top professional level.

In a release yesterday, the club said that they have added Josh and Edward Gould along with Ben Aspinall and Jamie Finn to their board of directors. They also said that owners Peter and Amanda Gould are looking to expand in 2020 and aim to hire an English Premier League coach as well.

But Mair shared that the emphasis would be on the development of the academy's young talent and not necessarily on the local Premier League team, adding that Paul 'Tegat' Davis' job as the Premier League team's head coach was not at risk.

"The aim of Mount Pleasant Academy is the development of the youths. So you have to separate the Premier League team and the academy, the school. A lot of people don't separate the two. But it's the development of the youths and carrying them through the various stages of development. We have them from seventh grade coming up, and that is where the focus is on.

Major sponsorships

"So the major sponsorships that you see have to do with the academy, the school. It's not the Premier League team that is getting the major sponsor. It's the school getting it to build additional campuses, additional fields, and real professional training to develop the youths as they go along. So it's what the kids are exposed to and where we want to carry them in the future," he added.

He said that even their intention to hire an English coach is because of this objective.

"All of this is for the school and the development of the kids and bringing them to that professional level. At the Premier League, the head coach remains (Paul) 'Tegat' Davis. With the board members coming on board, their international connections will go well both for us and Jamaica as there will be more avenues to get more exposure. So we are just looking for positives things," he added.

General manager David Galloway says that the club expects that by the 2026 World Cup, they will start seeing the fruits of this labour as they anticipate that they will have several representatives donning the national team jersey by then.

" ... We just want to see the football getting better, so we are playing our part to develop it and help it grow so Jamaica can become more recognised where football is concerned," Galloway said.

Nevertheless, they are hoping to see the impact on the field of play in the immediate future as well.

Galloway shared that all the new board members were there before but just decided to make their relationship with the club official, and like Mair, he believes that their presence will create even more and better opportunities for the club.