Jamaica plan Unified Cup coup
Published:Wednesday | July 27, 2022 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
HAVING FINISHED runner-up at the 2018 staging of the Special Olympics Unified Cup, Shane Richards, coach of Jamaica’s team, is more determined to capture the gold medal this year.
The Jamaicans were narrowly beaten 1-0 by France in the final of the competition, held in Chicago.
This year, the tournament, which begins July 31, is being held in Detroit.
The team has been drawn in Group B of the 10-team tournament alongside Paraguay, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Romania.
Richards told The Gleaner his charges would love to win the tournament for the country, especially because it would make a wonderful gift for Jamaica’s 60th independence celebrations.
“We will be celebrating our 60th year of independence and we will be coming back home on August seventh, the day after independence, and so we want to take back home that gold trophy to our country,” said Richards.
“I think that we are ready for this tournament, compared to the first edition of the tournament in 2018, to take home the top spot,” he said.
“The players are very excited to compete in it because some of them will be leaving the country for the first time and so they are looking forward to going there and putting on a good showing for Jamaica,” Richards said.
He noted that the age of the players ranges from 16-21, and that there was only one player in Kemar Jones who played on the 2018 silver medal-winning team in this unit.
Despite the relative inexperience of the team, Richards said the team had done well in the build-up to the tournament and he was confident of a good performance.
“The preparations are good because we could not have asked for any better. The players have put in a lot of work in training and they have also shown a lot of dedication, and we are very pleased about that,” he said.
“We have a very good crop of players and they are ready to go, and so we are in good stead and high spirits going into this tournament,” Richards said.
The team defeated a select Digicel team 4-0 in their final warm-up match at the Stadium East on Saturday.
Richards was pleased.
“It was a good all-around effort from us because I believe that we played well in all departments of the game,” he said.
According to Richards, there were no weak teams in the tournament and so he cannot afford to take any games lightly.
“The teams overseas are well equipped because they are very strong and they are playing in youth competitions, but I think that we are ready and raring to go to challenge them and take home the gold medal,” Richards said.
The Jamaicans are scheduled to depart the island for the tournament on July 30.