Interview with manager Dana Mae Crawford of the women's national team

 Recently the JHF news did an interview with the manger of the women's natianal senior team Dana Mae Crawford on the team and its performance in the recently concluded Caribbean Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. Ms. Crawford also serves as the Federation women vice president.

   Q How well did the Lady Humming Birds do in this tournament?

The ladies did very well in gaining the silver medal. We are a young team with young coaches and so we were underestimated by all our opponents. The team and coaches however were not surprised by their good performance as they executed most of what they had practised here in Jamaica during their preparations. In both Trinidad games, the score could have gone either way and Trinidad were the lucky ones in the end. Winning our first game however really set the tone for all of the others, hence the 9 full points at the end of the preliminary round, of which we were very proud.

Q     As manager how do you feel about the level of this  tournament?

Given the timing of the tournament in November Barbados and Trinidad who had overseas players stated they were not able to feed their strongest teams. However, the level was very high and very competitive. The hope is to be able to incorporate more Caribbean teams and with the constant competition be able to increase the competitive standard of all the teams.

Q      Looking at the tournament, when will Jamaica  be able to host this tournament?

We should be able to host the tournament comfortably in 2009, especially if we are able to garner some corporate support after winning this silver medal. Also the support of local clubs is also very integral for such an event. We purposely did not submitt bids for upcoming tournaments such as Junior Pan-Am 2008 and Pan-Am Cup 2009 as we thought we needed some time for the new Board to lay some foundation by focussing on other areas in an attempt to  rebuild the sport. Hopefully the hosting of the Caribbean Cup in 2009 will put us in good standing to bid on hosting future tournaments.

Q     As Vice President of Women hockey in Jamaica and manager you are actually playing two roles. As the Vice president of the women's, “Where do you see the women's program going in five years”.

In the next five years we should be able to be a competitive force, back on top in the CAC region and placing in the top 5 in the Pan Am region if we are able to accomplish the following goals, implement, develop and sustain the programmes mentioned:

1. National Senior, U21 and U16 teams in training, running concurrently with separate coaching and management teams.
2. All squads receiving international exposure, home and away
3. Increase the standard of play at the High School level  with increased and extended competition periods and also increasing the number of schools playing hockey across the island with the help of G C Foster coaches
4. Improve the Senior and U21 club leagues
5. International match tests being held in Jamaica regularly
6. Major sponsors coming on Board through continued success
7. Scholarship programmes to the UK and USA
8. Sustainable Prep and Primary junior programme
9. Continuous and standardized coaching development at High school, club and National Levels.

Q     In the next tournament will the Federation be looking to bring in players from overseas? If not, why not. Was it considered for this trip?

At this time we only have two active overseas players, Andrea Jackson in Trinidad and Nortia Bailey in USA. Both were asked but were unavailable for this tournament. We have made what we hope will become productive links at the Caribbean tournament for future scholarships and hope to be exposing our girls to international tournaments such as the Banks Tournament in Barbados where scouts frequently visit. In the pipeline also we will be seeking a Scholarship Programme Coordinator in Jamaica to liase with all our sources in the USA, follow up requirements for girls, invite scouts and arrange for teams to visit Jamaica among other responsibilites.

Q       Do you have any thing you would like to add?

I believe we have made a good start here by stamping our names once again where it belongs. We have a wonderful set of young ladies that are coachable, easy going, respectful and hard working wiht bright futures of becoming hockey leaders. Led by their coaches Christine Bartley and Leonardo Martinez, and mentors Fabian Stewart and Dr.Michelle Holt, they have the opportunity to grow together and become a force to be reckoned with within the region.

We would like to make special mention of Valerie Hall, Denise Wisdom and Victor Tomlinson who stepped in at the last minute in a time of crisis and made this trip a reality.

There are many persons (list too long) who have assisted us along the way, mentored  and guided us to this point, whom we would sincerely like to thank and hope that they will continue to support us as we aspire towards further success.

JHF News would like to thank you for your time
Paul Gascoigne