Ballaz’ Virtue targets next World Cup

Ballaz Football Academy founder Andre Virtue is seeking to plant the seeds for his players to be in the conversation of taking a step towards the elite level, with the next World Cup in less than four years in North America.

The academy's under-10 through under-13 teams returned to Jamaica yesterday, after competing in the Springs Holiday Cup in Florida, United States of America, with the under-10 and under-12 winning their respective division titles. The under-11 finished second while the under-13 missed the final.

Virtue was pleased with the performances of the younger age groups and is already looking towards the older class, as they set out on project 2026 mission, hoping that their development will give them the right opportunities to achieve their professional dreams and also national ambitions.

"Two years ago we set out and said if we really want to challenge ourselves, we really have to look at what's on the radar. We spoke to a couple of our 13 to 16-year-olds and asked them 'when is the next World Cup you can play'. Obviously, 2022 was a stretch. So I said 2026 is possible.

"The conversation around that is there are many 17, 18 and 19-year-olds who played in the 2022 World Cup, so if we intend to go to the World Cup as a country, which we definitely need to and the opportunity is so close and the easiest that we will have, we have to dream big," Virtue said.

North America will host the 2026 tournament, which will be expanded to 48 teams. Virtue said that while preparing the players for international call-ups is not the primary goal, what he hopes is that they will be able to put their players in a position for their talent to be on the radar of senior men's head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

"The coach might have different systems, likes and dislikes, but what we are preparing the players for is the next step and as you prepare for the next level and Jamaica calls you, put up your hand and say 'I am ready'," Virtue said.

"We want to make sure that any competition, any game that they are playing, somebody is going to stop and ask, who is that guy? I like what I see and it is that work of getting them technical and tactically prepared for whatever is about to happen."

Virtue says that their focus for next year will be to build on the momentum from this year, especially for the older age groups.