Samuel: Female Program Needs Revamping

Head Coach of the Senior Women’s football team, Vincent “Nabu” Samuel, has spoken out on the need to revamp the local female football program.
This statement comes on the heels of another embarrassing defeat, this time to Cuba who trounced the Benna Girls 7-0, on Monday in the ongoing CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup in Jamaica.
Samuel while speaking on the Good Morning JoJo Sports show compared Jamaica’s program to that of Antigua and Barbuda’s in terms of preparation.
“We definitely need to revamp our female program. The structure of the other teams, the way they do things is totally different. These teams are definitely fully prepared, they have been travelling together for months. If you look at the Jamaica set up they have a number of players who basically live in Miami that make up the composition of the team, so you know they understand the movement as opposed to us who spend a number of months to prepare.”
The former Empire FC coach however said he should be blamed for the performance of the team but even in face of negative comments he commended the players mainly veteran Nikisha “Tikki” Samuel for her positivity and ability to keep the team grounded.
Samuel, the goalkeeper for the team has come under public scrutiny for her weight gain.
“I want to take this time out to commend Tikki despite what individuals have been saying. She has worked tremendously hard to get things going and I am saying at this point in time that she is one of the reasons, even after conceding all of these goals, that the team will remain positive.”
The coach stated however that despite the many challenges faced, that he and the players remain confident and focused for their final two matches.
“I am trying to focus on getting this team ready for the next game which is my primary focus at this time. It is what it is and I have to work with the resources that I have. What I can say is that the girls that we have here at this point in time are working their socks off irrespective of the situation and I am happy that they are giving their best effort.”
Maria Isabel Perez Torres (8th, 56th), Lilian Perez Sandoval (25th, 63rd), Rachel Pelaez Ellis (67th, 77th) and Dianelis Carbonell Lastre (90+1) were the goal-scorers for Cuba.
In the other match played that day, Jamaica remain undefeated as they trounced Bermuda 4-0 at the National Stadium Independence Park.
The Benna Girls will face Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and Bermuda on Thursday at the same time.