Women’s Challenge will be taken seriously
– Price
Assistant coach of Jamaica’s senior women’s football team, Andrew Price, said that they will be taking their upcoming Caribbean Football Union Women’s Challenge Series very seriously as it forms an important part of their preparation for the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers later this year.
The three-team Challenge Series, which involves Barbados and Cuba, will be held from April 18-22 at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.
Price told STAR Sports that they will be using the tournament to look at a number local- based players as well as fine-tune their preparations for the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, which will be held in May.
“It is very important because our aim is to have cadre of 40 to 50 players within the senior programme going forward,” said Price.
EXPOSURE
“We have to have a local complement and we are looking at the best local complement, so this tournament comes at a good time for the players to get the exposure and some experience,” he said.
“I think that if they equip themselves well, then they will be added to the overseas-based players so that we can have a strong team competing in the CONCACAF qualifying,” Price said.
He added that Barbados and Cuba will be sending their strongest teams for the tournament, so he is expecting tough competition from both sides.
“It is the competition that we have because we don’t really have the international games. It is good that the tournament comes at this time for us because both teams will be at full strength,” Price explained.
“We have been training for the last five weeks with some weekend camps, so this will be a good acid test for us to see where we are as local players against these international teams,” he said.
“I think that not having the women’s league for years now, this will be good exposure and experience for the players and we hope to continue in the same vein, where we can get international games for the players,” Price said.