Reynolds: U17 Boyz aiming to impress at Torneo del Sol
Published:Saturday | January 4, 2025 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Vassel Reynolds, assistant coach of Jamaica’s under-17 team, says consistency of play and improving individual performances are two of the main things on their agenda for the Torneo del Sol in Mexico, January 6-11. The squad will leave the island today for the tournament.
Reynolds pointed out that the coaching staff has identified the team’s consistency in performance over the course of 90 minutes as a major area for improvement, and aims to use the tournament to address the issue ahead of the Concacaf Under 17 World Cup qualifiers in Guatemala in February.
“At our last camp we worked on a couple of areas. These included our consistency of play and our decision-making. We observed how the players made decisions in some crucial moments on the field.
“The World Cup qualifiers will also be a tournament and when it comes to tournaments one has to be consistent both defensively and in attack.
“You have to win games, so you have to score goals and you have to defend well,” he said.
Despite the quality of the teams that they will be facing, Reynolds said the aim is to win their games, as it is important to develop a winning mentality.
He also believes a positive showing at the tournament would be a big boost to confidence going into the qualifiers.
“We are trying to develop that positive mindset in terms of winning our games all the time. For us to qualify (for World Cup) we have to do well in terms of scoring goals and defending well, so we are trying to develop that winning culture among the players.
“That will be one of the things we will be emphasising for this tournament, even though we know it’s going to be some tough games,” Reynolds said.
Nevertheless, he insisted that no matter the outcome, the young Reggae Boyz will benefit greatly from this experience.
“It will serve us well in terms of our assessment going into the final leg of the preparation for the qualifiers,” he stated.
He added that preparation has gone quite well, and that they have 90 per cent of the core squad available.
They have also left the door open for some fringe players to impress the coaches before the final squad is announced.
GOOD PLATFORM
“More or less we have been satisfied with the squad. The tournament will serve as a good platform in terms of giving us a gauge as to where we are at and what we need to do a month away from the qualifiers.
It’s a tournament we are looking forward to and we are as prepared as we can. The squad that we have settled on includes players that we have looked at and scouted for some weeks.
“A few came in the last couple of camps. They are not really new but we want to give them as good a chance as any and see if they can make the final cut come February.”
Jamaica will open the tournament against a Southern Selection on January 6. They play a Northern Selection a day later, before closing out the group stage against a Premier League team on January 8.