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Kingston Academy head to Europe
March 06, 2023
Kingston Football Academy will make their second sojourn to Europe to play some of the continent's top clubs in friendly matches and a tournament, and Dutch-born coach Eric Rademakers has even higher expectations for this year.
The academy will match skills against Netherland giants PSV Eindhoven's under-15 and under-17 and Borussia Monchengladbach's under-15. They will also play games against Fortuna and Roda JC Kerkrade.
They will also compete in a tournament with English championship teams, including Norwich, Peterborough and Luton Town, during the trip, which will go until the end of March.
Rademakers, however, said the intention of the academy is not to win matches there but to establish a reputation and a pathway to success for local players with aspirations to play professional football.
"If you go to the Netherlands and find someone interested in Caribbean football, they will tell you that they (players) are physically good and technically good, but when it comes to discipline and behaviour it usually is not so good," Rademakers said.
"That is a big part of what we do when we go there. We try to establish relationships with clubs, not that we have the best players in Jamaica, but we have players that are not what they expect us to be in terms of disciplined players and professional behaviour.
"So we are not going there to beat PSV. We are going there so we are invited back, as they see that we are an organised academy with players that understand structured football," he stated.
The under-17 team will include national youth players Tawayne Lynch (GK), Dusting Cohen, Ahir Dixon, Nashardo Gibbs and Javin Williams, who were members or part of the young Reggae Boyz' under-17 training squad. Lynch, Cohen and Dixon are invited players.
There are also three under-15 players who were part of the team that didn't make the championship because of administrative reasons.
"Our passion is for the elite players who really show a lot of talent, to train these guys properly to go and play against the best teams in the world and compete.
"It took us five years before we said we could compete with teams in the Netherlands and with certain level teams and actually leave a good impression on the aspects that they do not expect.
"So we want to create a proper pathway, proven pathway," Rademakers said.
He added that the trip requires financial resources and appreciates that KFC has decided to support the venture for a second consecutive year.
"We need money to make this happen, and KFC love what we did (last year), and they have decided to continue to support us," he added.
