Jarvis Young – By Neto Baptiste
Jarvis Young Benna Boys
Head coach of the Antigua and Barbuda Boys Under-14 Football Team, Auchland Jarvis, believes the squad has the potential to challenge for promotion to Tier 1 of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Men’s Under-14 Challenge Series, set for August 16th to 23rd in the Dominican Republic.
Speaking with Observer media following the release of an 18-member squad on Monday, Jarvis said the odds are in Antigua and Barbuda’s favour but reminded that games are decided on the pitch.
“Knowing that we rank above most of the teams in our group, it’s expected for us to put out better performances than them but according to the rules of the tournament, everybody has to play 60 minutes so it’s very important that us, as coaches, manage the moments and choose the right moments. It could be just a slight mistake that would cost us. So for me, I’m expecting them to come out because we rank above them and from what I see from the players, I think we have the quality to come out above those teams in this tournament,” he said.
The young Benna Boys will compete against Dominica, Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands in a round-robin format. Antigua and Barbuda open their campaign on August 16th against the Cayman Islands before facing Dominica one day later. They round off their group play against Turks and Caicos on August 19th.
Like any other team however, Jarvis said there are areas of concern heading into the competition, chief among them is the defence.
“For me, goalkeeping, we could have had more time to prepare the goalkeepers, I think. But I think going forward wise, attacking wise, I think we got … a guy that probably could be the best player in the tournament. But it doesn’t go from one player, I think it has to be a team performance so attacking wise, I think I’m looking forward to us scoring goals but on the defensive end, I’m a bit optimistic on how we cope with it,” he said.
The tournament format splits participating member association teams into separate competitive Tiers (Tier I and Tier II) with round-robin group stages followed by placement and knockout rounds to maximize international match experience.
Squad: Antonio Richmond (ASSS), Leyland Powell (SASS), Kawanie Atherly (PMS), Aaron Alfred (AGS), Jahquan Barthley (PMS), Allan Henry (PMS), Shamani Abrams (AGS), Kalvin Wilman (JSS), Uz-zi-ah Martin-Zachariah (AGS), Kaique Martin (SNRA), T’Andre James (AGS), Zuriel Archibald (SJA), Zenworth Thomas (PMS), Kaliel Burnett (CHSS), Chas Garner (SASS), Tevon Henderson (CHSS), Jordon Murray (SNRA), William Dorsett Jr (SJA).
Rolston Phoenix travels as assistant coach with Oscar Lake as goalkeeper coach. McLean Lawrence is the team’s physiotherapist with Karanja Mack as equipment coordinator and Karil Knight as safeguard officer. Ian Bailey heads the delegation as team manager.
