COLEY’S ‘FAB FOUR’ ... Magee, Marshall, Vassell and Flemming come in for praise
Noted local coach Miguel Coley, who led Jamaica College (JC) to the last five Manning Cup and Oliver Shield titles, listed St George’s College’s Alex Marshall, JC’s Tyreek Magee and Junior Flemming as well as Cornwall College’s Peter-Lee Vassell as the most outstanding schoolboy footballers he has seen over that period. Coley, whose success at the schoolboy level is unmatched in the modern era, has, of course seen most of the nation’s best young talent first-hand but listed those four as the best to have graced local schoolboy football since he began his reign at Jamaica College in 2013. “You have to look at (Alex) Marshall. (Tyreek) Magee, Junior Flemming – not only for his (Flemmings) ability as a player, but because of his heart and his character,” Coley stated.
However, of the four, he had very high praise for former Cornwall College maestro Lee Vassell, who, last year, played an instrumental role in the St James school winning their first daCosta Cup title in 15 years.
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“There is Peter-Lee Vassell, whose transition into attack is amazing. His vision, and while playing at that speed, he can find the passes. Magee, for instance is not like that – being on the go and making the pass – but he (Vassell) can make the passes on the go.
“I have not seen a midfielder like that (locally). He is very quick, he can dribble, make good, long passes, and his defending is not too bad. He was a very good player,” added the former national senior team assistant coach.
Coley believes that in order to be a good youth coach coaches must show their young players “understanding” and “patience”.
“To make a good youth coach, you need to first understand the stage the boys are at, but there is a lot of psychology to it. Some have self-confidence issues, some are just going into adolescence, so there is that transition that they are making. So you have to understand them and what they are going through,” said Coley.
“Forget about the football and you understand how psychology plays an important role to understand what they are going through. And you need patience. You have to be patient with them, and because you have to be patient with them, you need to start early,” he said.