Oral Tracey | Capitalising on a ‘Golden’ opportunity

It was like sweet music to the ears of the entire local football fraternity when it was officially announced that Jamaica’s National Stadium will host a first-round double header in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Football tournament.

Merely weeks before, the dominant narrative was that Jamaica could not host this level of international competition any time soon because of the inadequacy of the National Stadium facility. Even estimates of the expenditure needed for the necessary upgrade were presented as what then seemed like a pipe dream faded into the distance of the stark reality.

Subsequent information is that those concerns, as expressed then, as well as the projected costs for the upgrade, were grossly exaggerated. Thus, it is definitely all systems go for history to be created on Monday, June 17, at the National Stadium. It is reasonable to assume that the substantial Jamaican presence within the CONCACAF body in Horace Reid, director of member associates’ affairs of the Caribbean, and Howard McIntosh, senior manager of the One CONCACAF Programme and Special Projects, must have had some influence in the pulling off of this major coup for Jamaican football.

The onus is now squarely on the local stakeholders to take a firm hold of this opportunity. The Jamaican team will have to ensure that they maximise on the invaluable advantage of playing an important competitive game in familiar conditions on their home turf in front of their home fans. The next important dynamic will be the response of the Jamaican fans. There should be no middle ground or compromise. Nothing less than a jam-packed National Stadium bursting at the seams with gold-clad Jamaican fans cheering on the team will do. The loud and clear message must be sent that Jamaica are ready for this prime-time exposure and are well worthy of being chosen for this groundbreaking move by CONCACAF.

PIVOTAL ROLE

Coach Theodore Whitmore must also be cognisant of his pivotal role in this process. He, more than any other stakeholder, must get things right. His team selection, shape, and tactics must be spot on in front of the home crowd. The Reggae Boyz, of course, should, and must, respond and kick of the process of restoring the tattered goodwill between the local fan base and the national team.

Jamaica is already famous for the richness and appeal of our inimitable culture and world-renowned hospitality. All that is required of the common man, woman, boy and girl is the outpouring of support for the team. Significantly, neither the Jamaican Government nor the Jamaica Football Federation will be required to spend a single dollar in the execution of this historic undertaking. The regional governing body, CONCACAF, will foot the entire bill for the staging of what will go down as the Jamaican leg of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Jamaica needs to embrace its part of the bargain and spare no effort in becoming the most effective 12th man we can be, no matter who the opponents turn out to be. Home teams generally feed off crowd support, so we expect that a full and vociferous National Stadium crowd will spark a positive response from the Boyz when they take the field at their traditional home base once known as ‘The Office.’

All of this is the vision and the theory, and the execution must follow. Monday, June 17, will present the GOLDEN opportunity for Jamaica to prove to the wider football world how much of a football nation and a football people we really are.