Jeffers: CONCACAF Under-15 Championships a ‘learning experience’

Coach Schyan Jeffers said his recent stint in Florida with the national under-15 football team has served as an eye-opener, adding that he has gained quite a bit of experience during the one week CONCACAF Championships at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Antigua & Barbuda topped their Division III group after winning all three of their fixtures against Grenada, St Martin and Dominica but were beaten 2-0 by the Cayman Islands in the division championship decider.
“When you think you know something in coaching and management, you really don’t know anything because there was so much to learn from these games. To manage, how to coach tactically and technically, how to coach and also how to manage the guys [players] on a day to day basis, not to exert too much energy so all in all, it was a learning experience for me and the boys,” he said.
It is, however, still unclear as to whether or not Antigua & Barbuda will be promoted to Division II or if they will have to play another year in Division III as some confusion looms over the promotion format being used.
“No, it wasn’t clear at all and up to this day I am still baffled. I am not clear on the promotion said of it in terms of when you win the group stage and if you go up to Division II or go up to Division I. I don’t really know the format to that,” the former player said. 
Asked to evaluate the team’s overall performance and their clear sweep of the group stage, Jeffers said that in some ways, the players became complacent, adding that some conditions may have also influenced a drop in the intensity of their performances.
“We didn’t take them serious, we started to take them lightly because we thought we would have completely walked over them and complacency set in. It was very hot, very draining and we played our first game against Grenada at 9 am. Our second game — and remember we have to be up at 6 am to get breakfast as we have to be there an hour and a half before the game — we played at 11 am against St Martin, and then the third game, which was back-to-back after St Martin, we played at 9 am. So we didn’t get 24 hours rest to come back and play against Dominica,” Jeffers added.
Antigua & Barbuda defeated Grenada 5-0 in their opening contest before defeating St Martin 2-0. The young Benna Boys rounded off their group campaign with a 1-0 victory over Dominica.