National Under-15s hoping to make most of experience
The National U-15 squad departed on Thursday for French Guiana to participate in the Claude Elise Under-15 football Tournament from December 17 to 22.
Wayne Da Silva
Two of the players, who made the final 16-man cut, are forward Omari Glasgow and defender Wayne Da Silva and both players are eager on making the most of their exposure of playing in the national team.
Glasgow, a 14 year-old from the East Coast Club Beterverwagting United, expressed his pleasure of being a part of the squad and training that he undertook.
“I learned how to use the dept and width of the field and also defending quickly when my team loses possession then attacking quickly,” the player said.
He added, “The TD [Technical Director] taught me how to use the spaces between the two centre backs and Coach Bryan [Joseph] helped me improve on my shooting.”
Omari Glasgow
The footballer has set his eyes on some illustrious goals stating, “My dream is to play for Manchester United but everything takes time and will have continue working on that goal.”
Similarly, Da Silva a player from Saints Sports Club in the Rupununi explained that “Training was challenge having to adapt to the use of cones etc because back home we don’t have those stuff but I leaned to control the ball, make space and use the depth of the field.”
Over the past weeks, the players were involved gruelling training sessions at the Ministry Of Education Ground, in order to be in top shape for the tournament.
The GFF is seeking to use this event in preparation for its participation in the scheduled August 2017 CONCACAF U-15 tournament.
It will be used to provide the necessary player experience/exposure, enable the assessment of players’ ability/performance level and as part of the developmental process for both players and staff.
The Tournament will feature participation from French Departments and neighbouring countries including Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Suriname and Olympique de Marseille.
Meanwhile, Ian Greenwood, GFF’s Technical Director (TD) who stated a new format of the camp was employed and all players remained encamped for the duration explains: “In the review meeting, we will talk to the parents and explain exactly what has happened in the camp, what the players have been exposed to, what the scheduled has been like…we will talk about the tournament itself, what happens next – what happens to the players that have made the squad and what happens to those that did not, what the training programme will be as they gear up to CONCACAF tournament next year…” and review the activities presented at the initial parent meeting held at the commencement of the camp.
Additionally, the TD said they will be talking to the players about what they can do in terms of individual targets and aspects that they can improve on.
Greenwood said parental involvement is important: “We need to help the parents so that they understand what’s going on because sometimes the child goes away for two weeks then gets shipped off to a tournament (so they need to understand) what happens to him, what happens on a day-to-day basis during the training and the time in-between.”
Forwards: Omari Glasgow (Beterverwagting United), Ken Salvador (Saints Sports Club), Troni Semple (Buxton United) and Jermaine Garrett ( Fruta Conquerors FC).
Head Coach: Bryan Joseph, Assiastant Coach – Challus McKinnon, Goal Keeping coach- Eon De Vieira, Team Manager – Keith Ojeer and Technical Director – Ian Greenwood.
