Boyce: Keep dreaming big

Former national captain Emmerson Boyce believes Barbados and other Eastern Caribbean countries need to vigorously continue exploring their World Cup dream, if they were to achieve the ultimate goal of reaching the global showpiece in the future.

The ex-Wigan Athletic defender said while the Eastern Caribbean was lagging behind, it was vitally important the respective Football Associations pushed forward with development while always maintaining the self-belief of what their national teams could achieve.

To date, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have been the only English-speaking Caribbean countries to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. No country from the Eastern Caribbean has yet achieved the goal.

“I was lucky enough to play with some Honduras players and you would’ve never imagined Honduras going to the World Cup and they make it there regularly now,” said the 41-year-old Boyce who earned 12 caps for Barbados.

“For me, playing at Wigan Athletic, nobody expected them to win the FA Cup. I believe if you dream it, you can achieve it – that’s always been my motto.

“Yes, we’re playing catch up [with other nations] there’s no doubt about it but we have to start from somewhere.

“If it’s the next World Cup, start dreaming and if you can’t make it there we go to the next one but we always have to keep moving forward and that’s what the main message from myself is: we’ve got to keep moving forward no matter what. We can’t take a step back.”

Boyce made over 250 appearances for Wigan Athletic and was good enough to wear the captain’s armband in the 2013 FA Cup final when the underdogs stunned hot favourites Manchester City, 1-0, in the final at Wembley.

Born in England, Boyce qualified to represent Barbados through his parents, and made his debut in 2008 when he turned out in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Dominica.

Boyce, who has since retired from the game, said it was crucial for Barbados’ World Cup dream that players gained experience in the foreign leagues and brought that knowledge to bear on the country’s development.

“It’s about winning games for the national team. The more games you win, the higher your rankings and it makes it easier to create pathways into Europe,” Boyce stressed.

“And it’s not just about creating pathways for players into Europe for players who go out there but also so they can come back and share their experience and knowledge.

“So it’s just not a case of getting players and getting them out, it’s a case of exposing them to other leagues, other environments, other ways of living and bringing it back to Barbados so we can continue that development of players moving forward in their game.”

Boyce recently launched a coaching programme aimed at developing women’s football in Barbados and is also poised to establish his Emmerson Boyce Foundation next year.

He pointed out that while much focus had been placed on men’s football, there was more emphasis needed on the women’s game and that would be at the heart of his academy’s development thrust.

“We’ve got great coaches all around the island. I’m now trying to reach out to as many coaches as I can who are passionate about the women’s game and trying to help them in terms of development,” he said.

“So I’m not coming here to set up an academy for myself, I’m setting up an academy for the coaches so they can go out in the community and they can develop not just the boys game but also the female game.

“It’s not an overnight project but hopefully we can show what we can do and more and more females can come out and play football.”
(BT)