Busby keeping U-17 Girlz on their toes

After Concacaf announced the new format and the rescheduling of the confederation's senior men's World Cup Qualifiers this week, Reggae Girlz coach, Hubert Busby Jr, revealed they have already started to put things in place for the under-17 Girlz, whose qualifiers are expected to be announced shortly.

The young Reggae Girlz were supposed to participate in the Concacaf Under-17 Championship (qualifiers), which was scheduled to take place in Mexico in April and May. However, the tournament had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

After months of waiting, Concacaf has given the first indication that they are ready to resume football in the region, and Busby Jr said they are working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure they are not behind in preparation when the new dates for the qualifiers are confirmed.

"The (under) 17s were supposed to have a qualifiers in April in Mexico. Now that Concacaf has come up with a men's schedule for October, we are hopeful we will hear something soon. We are working hard to put things in place for our 17s, as they still have to qualify (for the World Cup). So a lot of things are being done," Busby Jr shared.

BEHIND THE SCENES

"Once we find out the dates for the qualifiers we can start planning for our 17s, and then we can hopefully set up a camp. In the meantime, we intend to continue to keep our Zoom calls. We have given it a little break because some of the local players are taking exams, and the players abroad have started club level. But the players have a fitness plan they follow every week. So we will check back with them in the first week in August and continue to plan behind the scenes," he added.

The coach further shared that they are also trying to implement a programme that will assist the nation's young female players with their football development over the long term.

"We are excited because we are making a lot of progress from the youth teams to the senior women's team as far as long-term planning is concerned. We are planning for all the age groups, to have a programme in Jamaica, which allows all the players to be developed over a long period of time. When we are done, we will submit our plan to the technical committee, they will review it and if they approve of it, they will send it to the JFF board for final approval," Busby Jr said.

The top three teams at the Concacaf championship will advance to the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup in India in 2021.