Technical team taking Golden Jaguars from bust to boom!

Mar 15, 2015 Sports

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By Santokie Nagulendran
Behind every successful National football team is a network of technical staff who

all work together to ensure the greater good of success for the team. Guyana’s National Team, known as the Golden Jaguars in footballing circles, has recently installed an array of staff to help facilitate such success for the nation and revitalise a team which has seen many low points in recent years.
Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz was appointed to the post in January, the third time he will lead the Golden Jaguars, and for him, making the decision on who should form his backroom staff was an easy one: “Once I was appointed I chose my staff and it was natural for me to have Wayne Dover (assistant coach), Mark Xavier (operations manager), Trevor Burnett (equipment manager) and Debita Harripersaud (physiotherapist) in particular. Faizal Khan also worked closely with us.”
Wayne Dover serving as assistant coach is of a massive benefit to Guyana: here is a coach who led the team when they achieved their highest ever FIFA Ranking of 86th and is also the only ever person to take a Guyanese club (Alpha United) to the CONCACAF Champion’s League group stages. Having worked with Shabazz for years now in the National set-up, the two men have enough knowledge and experience to take Guyana to the next level: which is to consistently be one of the best teams in the CFU region.
Whilst a few fans may question the nature of thesupport staff roles, they are all vital components to the success of the Golden Jaguars team on the pitch. For example, Faizal Khan serves as the team’s ‘Administrative and Commercial Manager’, which involves booking player flights to Guyana, arranging hotel accommodation, and a great deal of communicating with overseas clubs to try and get their permission for players to join the Guyana National Team. Khan also has a hand in scouting potential Guyanese players, and was instrumental in bringing overseas-based players such as Leon Cort, Carl Cort and Ricky Shakes into the Golden Jaguars. Such a role invokes a great deal of professionalism into the National set-up and helps to ensure that the ‘Golden Jaguar’ brand grows and grows; it is a role that allows football to be seen as a business, as well as a sport.
Shabazz made a special mention of Faizal Khan, who has clearly had a big impact on Guyanese football, both with the National Team and at a domestic level, where he managers Georgetown Football Club.  “Faizal came at the end of 2006 and he put into action an idea we had to bring in foreign-born professionals into the Guyana programme. He has spent hours and hours and of his own finances to ensure the Cort brothers (Leon and Carl) and a lot of other players give Guyana a thought,” Shabazz remarked.  “On the staff he still handles dealing with International players and all the commercially-related tasks, he has a passion and, in cricketing terms, he is a Chris Gayle when it comes to starting projects!” he went on to say.
Jamaal Shabazz also highlighted the role of Trevor Burnett, the team’s equipment manager, declaring that he is, “very professional, and has helped create a new position in Guyana’s football…before we introduced the role of Equipment Manager in 2005, the National team did not have a designated person dealing solely with equipment.”
Debita Harripersuad also stands out, not only for her exceptional work with the team, dealing with injuries and health issues players face, but also for being a Indo-Caribbean woman, as noted by Shabazz, who said, “Debita  has been able, as an Indo-Caribbean female, to operate in an Afro-Caribbean, male-dominated environment with professional distinction.”  Indeed, it is hoped that Debita will start a precedent for more females and also more members of the Indo-Caribbean community to involve themselves in the sport.
What’s vital to a successful  team however, is the ability to communicate and trust each other, with Shabazz summarising the dynamic of the group by saying: “The most important thing about our staff is bringing a different culture to Guyanese football: the ability to work together with comradery, sincerity and a certain amount of loyalty. The relationship we have developed is tremendous. Even when I was not involved in Guyana’s football, I would talk to Wayne, Faizal and Mark on a daily basis, we would keep in touch. It’s such a tremendous professional environment where we are very passionate about what we do and also very determined to succeed. While we have had disagreements on several things, we always try to agree to disagree, and the trust that has developed between us is great.”

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