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Manning’s coach wants support for young ballers out west
January 16, 2025
Manning's High School's Under-14 football coach Kevin Williams said football in western Jamaica is in need of better support, and that young players are in need of inspiration to commit to the sport.
Williams' team was mauled 7-0 by St Andrew Technical High School in the ISSA Mighty Malt Under-16 all-island final at Glenmuir High School on Tuesday.
He believes that schools in the Corporate Area are better supported and will find it easier to organise training and camps, during times like the recent Christmas break.
"First, it (holidays) cut the momentum that we had from the rural final. During the Christmas festivities you had kids branching off to different country areas to spend time with their families. I don't want to point fingers but football in the west is not supported as it should be," he commented.
"When schools can have a camp in Kingston, you won't have that on the western side of the island. So the boys were out (for holidays). We tried to get them back, but we only had about two or three training sessions before this final, which wasn't enough and it showed in the game."
Williams said players with ambitions to succeed in football usually show some level of maturity and commitment. He believes this focus is lacking in western Jamaica's young players.
"I think it is the maturity of the boys, how serious they are, what they want to achieve from football. You cannot want to win the daCosta Cup or the Under-14 or Under-16 and instead choose to be on a phone, on YouTube or social media and choose to miss training," he reasoned. "It is the generation that we are living in. These young boys need some type of inspiration or motivation to get them to want to play football.
"There are stakeholders who want to get involved in football, and I think that if that is happening it will get sponsors and if sponsors are on board, then you will get results."
Williams, however, said that he is proud of their achievements.
"It (season) was a rocky road. We had to get some boys in, we even had a 13-year-old who we had to elevate from the Under-14 to balance this Under-16 team. But even though the result (Tuesday) did not reflect what we wanted, I am pretty proud of them. We just need to put things in place and get things right for the next football season."
