Sealy: Groom young players
Published on: 1/24/07.
LET'S BUILD for the future! Barbados
Following Barbados' exit from the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals in Trinidad and Tobago, national team coach Eyre Sealy is calling for an investment to be made on the young, talented footballers in the country.
"What we have got to do is to try to develop some of the younger players like (Malcolm) "Buju" Marshall, Ramuel Miller, Jeffrey Williams, Elvis Defreitas and Rommell Brathwaite to name a few.
"We got to try to develop some of these young players and the only way that they can really develop is by us having the exposure of games now that there is no competition on," Sealy told NATION SPORT.
"We need to have a continuous programme running where we can develop the young players because experience is going to be very important.
"When you get to this level, it is very challenging and guys need to have some kind of experience, so really and truly, we must develop as much as the young players as possible over the next six to eight months," he added.
In the finals, Barbados drew their opening game against host country Trinidad and Tobago and lost their last two encounters to Haiti 2-1 and Martinique 3-2, but Sealy noted it was a good overall performance as the team had played unbeaten in the preliminary rounds when they won their first and second round groups, moving from 152 in the FIFA world rankings to 98.
Good performance
"Hopefully, we can start to build on this. What was good was that since 1994, it was the first time that we qualified for a final and we did well in the qualifying rounds," Sealy said.
The former Barbados goalkeeper is also hoping that more Barbadian footballers would be able to secure professional contracts in England and other overseas countries.
"That would be really great if we can get players overseas. I am hoping for the best when it comes to Elvis Defreitas and Rommell Brathwaite, who are going on trial in England next month. Hopefully, if they go on trial and they make it along with Norman (Forde), that will be a plus for us because we need to quickly get quality players," Sealy said.
He revealed that Louis Soares, who plays for Aldershot Town in England and made his international debut for Barbados in the finals, has a younger brother, who is playing for Crystal Palace in the English Division 1 competition.
"I don't know if we will be able to get him but he is actually at Crystal Palace and is in the first team as far as I've been told. We got to keep looking for players overseas as well, especially if they are young, that we can groom them into a national team," Sealy said.