Shabazz wants $$ for women

COACH of the national women’s football team Jamaal Shabazz is calling for financial assistance for the squad, in the wake of their recent elimination from the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifiers in Costa Rica last month. The senior women squad had a miserable time in Costa Rica, as they were trounced 7-1 by the USA and 8-1 by Mexico before they rebounded with a 6-2 triumph over Haiti. In a brief interview last Friday, Shabazz noted: “So far (FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF boss) Jack Warner has been the main financier of the women’s programme with help from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and, this time, the Olympic Committee.”

“What we need is a greater effort to provide funding for a proper structured development programme, where certain things like transport allowances for players coming from far distances will be in place,” he added. “Funding to take the team to a training camp to play in tournaments and generally funding to keep the programme on-going is needed,” he said. “Although we were beaten, we have arrived at a certain level higher than when we started to prepare. We need to build on the little that we achieve,” Shabazz said. The easy-going coach described the competition as “a tremendous learning experience.” “Two years ago (at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA) when we lost 3-0 to the US, we felt that we had narrowed the gap, as well as when we’d lost 2-0 to Mexico,” he said. But he admitted: “We didn’t play with the same compactness in these matches as we played some years ago, mainly because the team is a much younger team that went to Costa Rica.”

“Two key players have retired and are now part of the technical staff (Izler Browne and Ricarda Nelson) and only four players on the squad are over 23 years (of age),” he said. On the USA encounter, Shabazz noted the defence was much too slow to cope with the speed and power of the US team. “We paid dearly for it. Four of (their) goals came from corners...  aerial power was our weakest department,” Shabazz said. And, on the subsequent match against Mexico, he stated: “We were in the match for ten minutes. They started playing the ball over the top and we were a bit slow in the midfield and in the back and it was a foot-race.” “Our goalkeeping, in terms of coming off the line was also a weaker area and again, the (losses) have shown serious weaknesses in our game that needs a lot of work,” he said.

“Against Caribbean opposition, as was seen in the Haiti match we can handle it, but the CONCACAF competition needs serious homework, serious development work and matches at that level for the players to feel that atmosphere,” Shabazz said. The long-standing women’s team coach also bemoaned the unavailability of players from the US collegiate circuit due to school commitments, including Dawn-Marie Alfred, Avianne Tobias, Patrice Rose and Kesiann Francis.