Golden preparation

Chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical committee, Rudolph Speid, described the Reggae Boyz’s upcoming pre-tournament training camp in Orlando, Florida, as a critical step in the team’s preparations ahead of this month’s Concacaf Gold Cup tournament.

The camp, which is scheduled from July 1-9, will include the full complement of technical, medical support, and administrative staff, who will be present at the tournament, as well as the final selected 23 players.

Speid told The Gleaner that the camp is very important as it will help to improve the conditioning of the players as well as fine-tune strategy and improve chemistry among the team members.

“This camp is very important for us because most of the leagues around Europe have finished early, and most of our players haven’t been playing for over a month, and so they need time to prepare,” said Speid. “I don’t think that a four-day or three-day camp would work this time, and so we really need to prepare because some of the players’ fitness might not be up to standard the way we might have wanted it to be.”

“They are not playing games, and so the camp is very important for us to prepare properly for the Gold Cup, and it has my support one hundred per cent,” Speid said.

The veteran administor pointed out that in the past, successive Reggae Boyz coaching panels have been forced to change their plans during international games because a number of the players’ fitness was not up to par and that the nine-day exercise would serve the team well going into the tournament.

“The last three games that we went on tour, we had to be chopping and changing the squad, and so for me, this camp is a positive step for us because there is no other way to do it, and I just hope that everything works out,” Speid stated.

Meanwhile, in a media release issued yesterday, the JFF said that some players would arrive after July 2 due to previous commitments. The local delegation departs from Montego Bay today at 12 noon.

“The JFF is pleased that it was able to expand the technical and support personnel for the squad to include additional equipment personnel as well as an additional physical trainer and masseuse and also a performance video analyst in addition to the medical support staff,” the release added.

The Reggae Boyz are drawn in Group C alongside Costa Rica, Suriname, and a soon-to-be determined qualifier. They are set to open their account against Suriname on July 12.

robert.bailey@gleanerjm.com