Race for fitness

YOUNG REGGAE Girlz coach Xavier Gilbert is in a race against time, even as he seeks to whittle down the final under-17 and under-20 squads for Concacaf age-group championships set to kick off as early as February.

The final stage of the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship is set to begin on February 25, while the Women’s Under-17 Championship at the same stage, begins in April.

A combination of the two squads kicked off their second camp in a month at the UWI/JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Monday; and while Gilbert is working on improving chemistry and fitness ahead of the tournaments, he also has some choices to make.

“The camp has started. It started today (Monday) and we are still evaluating and looking at players,” said Gilbert.

“It is a mixture of under-17 and under-20 players, and we are working towards completing the conditioning of the team because the team has been inactive for so long; and the games in the tournament are so close that we want to get them into the type of condition that will allow us to compete,” he said.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

The under-20 team has been placed in Group H for the championship, scheduled to be played in the Dominican Republic from February 25 to March 12.

Jamaica will go up against Haiti, Cuba and Guatemala. The top three teams from each of the four groups will advance to the round-of-16, where they will be joined by four group winners from a previous qualifying round (Curaçao, Suriname, Cayman and Bermuda) for the knockout phase.

With a number of players returning from the 2020 squad and two boasting senior team experience, Gilbert is very optimistic that the under-20 team will do well at the championships, where the top three finishers will qualify for the U20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica in August.

“We have eight returning players who were part of the last cycle, and two players who have represented the senior team in Jody Brown and Peyton McNamara.

“We know we are going to compete, but we haven’t finish our evaluation yet. We will be using the get-together (camp) to work out our team strategy and tactics. But after the camp we will be better able to say where we are, and then the squad will be named at the end of January,” he said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Combined squad:

US-based - Liya Brooks, Zoe Vidaurre, Alexis Wright, Kameron Simmonds, Amari Bailey, Serena Mensah, Kyrstal Elie and Nevillegale Able count as the United States-based contingent in the squads.

Locally based - Dejionee Anderson, Davia Richards, Kelly Nunes, Javanae Jones, Tajay Stephenson, Daihla Whyte, Liha Williams, Kaliscia Mitchell, Tianna Beswick, Dannique Wilson, Andrene Smith, Kerrisan Lawrence, Shaniel Buckley, Janeil Mignott, Tyesha Nelson, Tiny Seaton, Natoya Atkinson, Kiona Tuloach, Akelia Jonson, Dreanna Thaw and Fredrika Finnikin.