Well said, Whitmore
FOR YEARS, the ease with which Jamaica called on Jamaicans living overseas to represent the national football team has been a concern of mine, and it has been so ever since 1984 when I was invited to the home of a Jamaican residing in Leicester, England, and asked to lobby influential Jamaicans at home to invite Jamaicans living in England to represent Jamaica.
That concern increased later before, during, and after the national team qualified for the 1998 World Cup football final in France and many times since.
It has been a concern of mine also because of the numbers.
A couple of weeks ago, however, national football coach Theodore Whitmore eased my concerns – a little.
Speaking to the press recently, a few days before the CONCACAF National League match between Jamaica and Suriname, Whitmore expressed disappointment at not having Ravel Morrison, out of England, for the game.
“We have written to the club but haven’t got a response, so we just have to move on,” said Whitmore.
In saying that, the door is, however, not closed to the former Manchester United and West Ham player, to Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey, or to any other player, providing he has an “interest” in representing the national team.
Whitmore, who scored the two goals in Jamaica’s 2-1 victory over Japan in the World Cup in France 1998, went on to say, “We need all players, once the players are committed. It’s not just about talent.”
“The players have to want to come and play for the national team and wear the national colours with pride. That’s the sort of players we have been looking for, not only talent,”
In an obvious reference to Bailey’s behaviour recently when Bailey talked about his brother also playing for Jamaica, or else, Whitmore continued: “It’s a team game, and whether Bailey is here or not, it has to go on. If Bailey was here, it would not be him alone or even with Butler (Kyle). The two of them alone can’t play. We have to think about the team, so until Bailey realises that, then we can’t move forward.”
The words “interest”, “wanting to play for the national team”, and “wearing the national colours with pride”, were key, at least they were for me.
Jamaica is, and probably will always be, a migrating society. It is not big enough to hold all of us, or to support all of us, and that necessity, or opportunity, apart from our adventurous spirit, is why we are scattered all over the world.
Jamaicans, those who are born here, those who are studying or living abroad, and those who were born abroad, are citizens of Jamaica, and deserve, or have a right, to represent Jamaica.
The concern, for me, therefore, has always been, and will always be, how it was done.
It was always, or appeared to be, in football as some other things, that the attitude was that nothing good was in Jamaica – that local-based footballers were inferior to those living in England and elsewhere.
The rulers of football behaved as if the Jamaica-based footballers were not as good, or as talented, for want of a better phrase, as home-grown athletes, or as home-grown cricketers used to be.
The Jamaica Football Federation organised local competitions, selected teams for regional tournaments, and every time it comes to tournaments like the World Cup qualifications, they headed overseas in search of players.
Little thought was given, apparently, to the development of local players, who were then made to feel inferior to players who seldom made a difference to the country’s performance.
Sometimes, many times, some of the overseas-based players came for the ride, or just to enjoy the experience of World Cup qualification, something which, because they were non-national or probably because of the strength of the country in which they resided, they would not otherwise even dream about.
DEVELOP LOCAL TALENT
It is has always been my feeling that instead of searching frantically for an available overseas Jamaican to represent Jamaica, more effort should be placed on developing local Jamaicans to do that, and in time, admirably so.
The other important feeling was that interest in representing Jamaica, wanting to represent Jamaica, and wanting to do so with pride should be a necessity in getting that opportunity.
In the first place, that would go a far way in eliminating the prima donna attitude of so many of those who are brought ‘home’ to play, and, secondly, it would help in building a good team spirit.
All Jamaicans, wherever they are, deserve to represent Jamaica. In such a case, however, the JFF needs to improve the standard of local football so that local-based footballers, at least some of them, can also get into the national team for big matches, especially when they get into the National Stadium and expect to be cheered on by a full house of Jamaicans living at home.
And even then, a special system of selection will be needed to select the national team, a national team truly representative of Jamaica’s football.
There are some Jamaicans who reside abroad and don’t remember Jamaica or know where Jamaica is. There are some, however, who will always be Jamaicans.
Although the JFF replied to Bailey’s selfish request earlier, Whitmore’s words are not the words of the JFF. Fortunately, however, he is the national coach, and Jamaicans hope that his words become policy.
In fact, a national selection policy is needed, not only for football, but also for the selection of all national teams, less we end up forsaking the diaspora in team selection or end up in the embarrassing situation of selecting a national team of only non-resident Jamaicans representing Jamaica.