‘Not just for now’
Hyde wanted for long-term Reggae Boyz development project
AJAMAICA under-18 team, led by coach Lenworth Hyde and assistant Rudolph Austin, is down to compete in a week-long tournament, late April in Turkey.
Although there is no FIFA or Concacaf under-18 tournament to qualify for, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical committee chairman Rudolph Speid said it is all a part of the under-20 qualifying programme and overall national t eam development.
“It is a development tournament. A lot of the players are eligible for the under-20 World Cup qualifiers, the younger ones of the group.
“The ones now taking part in the under-20 qualifiers are the 18 and 19-year-olds, so the 18-yearolds on the (youth) World Cup qualifying squad will be included here,” said Speid.
“It is just another way to try and develop the players and give them international exposure as part of the whole World Cup qualifying development programme.”
He revealed that they intend to have more camps and tours all geared towards under-20 World Cup qualification.
“We are doing a lot of things to get the team up to standard to compete. Even if some of these guys don’t make it into the qualifying squad, the exposure will be good for them.”
Though it is still up in the air as to whether under-20 coach Jerome Waite will be a part of the tour, Speid noted that it would be good for him to be present to make his own assessment of the players.
Waite will still have the main under-20 squad to focus on but Speid believes that Hyde is a great addition to the programme, given his outstanding track record at the schoolboy level, and he admits they want him on board for the long term.
“Lenny Hyde is very good with youngsters. So it was natural for us to look at him. For now, it will just be this tour. But we are looking if we can make it a longterm project,” said Speid.
He added that they have requests for other age group tournaments and will be taking up those offers in order to keep the players, looking to transition into the senior team, as active and ready as possible.
“We have other requests for the under-23 and under-22 level and we are looking at those. The senior national team needs the 21 and 22-year-olds playing professionally overseas.
“So we are putting together those teams, so that during the window they will not be idle, they will keep on playing and the national coach will have a chance look at the more advanced players and put them in the senior team.
“So it’s really an ongoing programme for development and trying to keep t he players engaged and active throughout the year, instead of asking them to come and perform on one shot. “So we are not waiting for them to conform to a FIFA or Olympic age group, we will be doing our thing,” he said. The squad will consist of solely local-based players.