Coach points to inadequate preparation for U-17 Girlz
Published:Tuesday | August 29, 2023 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Coach Hugh Bradford lamented the age-old problem of inadequate preparation time following the elimination of Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz from the Concacaf Under-17 Women’s qualifiers.
Jamaica lost 2-1 on aggregate to Panama in the two-way tie which was played at Sabina Park. Bradford said he only had the players for a few days before the first match last Friday.
Though he admitted the players were in camp before, he said the limited time he had with them was not enough to fine-tune their preparations.
“A little more time with them would have been better,” Bradford stated after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat in the second game at Sabina Park.
“There were things we couldn’t get to because of the amount of time we had. There were adjustments we tried to make in the game but they (players) did not clearly understand what we wanted to do because we weren’t able to work on those things.”
Bradford revealed he did not join up with the players until last week, but said there were other factors that affected their readiness.
“Some of them were in camp but I only had them for a week. In fact, we had to leave training on Wednesday to go to the hotel because the game got moved up a day. We were supposed to start on Saturday but we started on Friday and we actually lost a day of training when that happened.
“Six to eight months (preparation) is what we need because there are so many things to cover and go over and you want to go over them more than once. So for me it’s knowing when the dates are, and starting six to eight months ahead of time to get those kids ready to play,” Bradford said.
Jamaica’s opponents Panama had been in training for the last seven months, according to midfielder Veronica Latorraca.
“We have been training so long. It’s been like seven months and it’s every day of the week. We have been training so hard for the last few months and to travel here, we trained all day, every day, all times and it really is a result from hard work and teamwork,” Latorraca said after the 1-0 win on Sunday.
Bradford admitted it was a major disappointment to miss out on the final round of a Concacaf female youth tournament.
Nevertheless, he insists the development of the under-17 players must continue as they look to make the transition to the under-20 level.
“We have to continue to develop the players so they can he ready the next time they go out to represent the country.
“They are not as talented as the under-20s but they are willing to work and if you spend the time with them, they will get there. At the international level it gets tougher every round and you have to be ready for that and I don’t think they fully understand that,” he stated.