Marc Stamp | Jamaica Gleaner
Jamaica’s Under-20 football team will head to Venezuela today to participate in the Copa Simon Bolivar tournament as they continue preparations for the CONCACAF Championship next month.
“The squad has been together for the past two weeks and we (coaching staff) have seen improvement week by week,” coach of the Jamaica U-20 team Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore told The Gleaner yesterday morning.
“It will give us a feel of where the team is at. We will play against international opponents and that is very important ahead of us hosting the CONCACAF Championship,” Whitmore, who is a former national senior captain and coach, added.
There will be 20 players making the trip, including four who are overseas-based, and Whitmore pointed out that the pool consists of 35 players.
“We have registered 35 players for the regional championship, so we will look at all players in order to come up with a final squad,” Whitmore informed.
For the Copa Simon Bolivar tournament, Jamaica will tackle Paraguay tomorrow, then Peru two days later and conclude against hosts Venezuela on Sunday. The team will return home next Monday.
The full squad is: Dane-Andrew Chambers (Harbour View); Nicholas Nelson (United Football Academy, USA); Rennico Clarke (Harbour View); Javaun Waugh (Portmore United); Shaquille Dyer (Arnett Gardens); Kyle Smith (Harbour View); Kemo Gayle (Portmore); I’Ishmale Currie (Portmore); Roberto Johnson (Portmore); Ryan Miller (Philadelphia Union Academy, USA); Savian Maxwell (Harbour View); John Luca Levee (DPS NP Elite Academy, USA); Rayon Swire (Waterhouse); Cardel Benbow (Waterhouse); Junior Flemmings (Tivoli Gardens); Adrian Smart (University of Technology); Raffique Bryan (Arnett Gardens); Daniel Roberts (Rivoli United); Javon East (Portmore); and Khalil Stewart (Ralph Lundy Soccer Academy, USA).
Lenworth ‘Teacher’ Hyde is the team’s assistant coach and Howard Bell is team manager.