Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau-

Jamaica's dismal showing in the just-concluded CONCACAF Under-20 Football Championship should serve as both a reality check and a wake-up call for the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), especially its top leadership and technical committee.

I believe that in putting our players on show without the requisite preparation - knowing that they would be challenging teams that have been operating as cohesive units for as much as two years - the JFF has set our players and coaching staff up to fail before loyal fans, who are known to be unkind to losers.

While I use the word 'losers', if one chooses to be fair, neither our players nor their coaches should be deemed losers by any stretch of the imagination.

Under the circumstances they were faced with, I think they should be commended for not embarrassing Jamaica, though they did not win any of the games they contested.

I believe the time has come for the JFF to realise that global football is serious business, and unless we want to be seen as mere 'jokers', we need to create the kind of platform that is conducive to the all-round growth and development of the sport.

I cannot understand what could have caused the JFF to believe - as a nation without even a token Under-20 programme - that we would be more than sitting ducks to the teams that have excellent programmes and well-prepared players and coaches that were given time to groom their players.

In their playing days, both Under-20 coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore and his deputy, Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde, were highly revered as magicians on the football field.

However, even if their magical qualities had followed them into coaching, I doubt they would have done any better.

In fact, I believe we need to pour scorn on those fans who have been lambasting Whitmore and Hyde for the failure of the team.

Clearly, their scathing sentiments can only be interpreted as a lack of understanding of the technical and tactical requirements for a team to succeed at any level beyond complete mediocrity.

While there is clearly some merit to the JFF's perennial complaints about the absence of high-quality facilities and the shortage of resources, this time around, I believe the federation did not do justice to its cause by virtue of its long-standing practice to promote quantity instead of quality at all levels of our football.

I have said repeatedly in this column that the Red Stripe NPL is the greatest impediment to the development of national football.

Instead of serving to identify and develop talent across the island, it is serving more as an avenue to satisfy the egos of selfish men who are unwilling to embrace change.

With regard to the complaints about limited financing, I believe the JFF is also partly responsible as some of the funds being invested in promoting substandard football such as the Western Confederation Super Football League could be better used to develop a proper national Under-20 programme.

Going forward, I believe the JFF should look seriously into establishing a national Under-20 competition, featuring two teams from the island's three counties.

If we have our best players competing regularly in a high-quality elite competition, we would be more equipped to take on our CONCACAF counterparts.

Feel free to send your feedback to adrianfrater@hotmail.com