Wall: Local players will be given ‘fair shot’ to make final cut

With his 24-man squad for the under-20 Reggae Boyz domestic camp announced, head coach John Wall says local-based players will be given a fair shot in making the final cut for the 2024 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Qualifiers.

The under-20 Reggae Boyz have been drawn in Group F of the tournament, alongside the likes of Bermuda, Grenada and Martinique.

Wall said that this camp will be an assessment period for domestic players to stake their case as they seek to gain a spot in the final selection for the qualifiers. According to Wall, the main aim will be to look at players who are experienced at the senior level.

“It’s more of a step-by-step process mainly. This is another assessment round with the domestic players, mainly we’re looking at the JPL (Jamaica Premier League) minutes and at the players that are on the verge of stepping up. Obviously, there are players that are anomalies and exceptions based on their environments, so this gives me another shot.”

The team will be training at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence until January 14, before another training camp in Trinidad and Tobago from January 19 to 22.

Following this, a final camp before the qualifiers will be hosted from February 14 to 28.

The team has confirmed three friendlies in the lead-up to the qualifiers during the Trinidad camp, twice against the Trinidad national team and another game against a senior club.

Wall says that these preparations will be crucial for the team going forward.

NEXT STAGE

“The next stage is the Trinidad camp, where we will have friendlies and it will be for the domestic pool and the North America-based players which I haven’t been able to look at them in this environment,” the coach said. He added that it gives them a chance to get to know the players and how they will fit into the group, how they can aid the qualification for the under-20 finals.

Wall also explained that for the Europe-based players, the coaching staff has identified several who could potentially bolster the squad for the qualifiers, but maintained that no player will be given preferential treatment in the selection process.

“I know exactly the players from Europe that I’d want to select and those have been scouted and assessed by a pretty rigorous process. It will be what we see combined with what we’ve scouted. It will be from all three pools that the players are originated from, that is Jamaica, North America and Europe.”

The tournament is set to kick off on February 23, where all matches in Group F will take place at the St Kitts and Nevis Football Association Technical Centre in Basseterre.

The top team from the group will advance to the 2024 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship.

Gregory Bryce