Sports Prescott pleads for professionalism by Barbados Today 11/02/2021 written by Barbados Today Updated by Stefon Jordan 11/02/2021 5 min read A+A- Reset Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 250 Anthony ‘Piano’ Prescott, one of Barbados’ finest ever strikers from the 1970s and 1980s, would like to see the standard of football in the island rise to a level where amateurs are turned into professionals. The 65-year-old who was once known for his jaw-dropping skills and movement while in possession of a football said a lot of improvement was still needed because Barbados is still not being competitive enough against international teams. “The youngsters have it better now. In my days we did not even have a pair of football boots but these fellas now have everything. They have pretty colour boots, they have all types of things now, and still, they are not improving. But they have a good coach (Russell Latapy) and I hope and pray that they could develop over the years,” Prescott told Barbados TODAY. A former top Notre Dame and Empire striker and one of the greatest sportsmen to emerge from Beckles Road community in the Bayland, Prescott noted that fitness was key. He also said that footballers in the island have yet to differentiate between a formation and a system. “Professional and amateur there is a difference. When the professional gets called you have to come, the amateur doesn’t have to come. So, lack of training in the clubs, the development of that is very poor. A lot of fellas work and can’t get the proper time to put in hours of training. “When you are a professional you train eight hours a day. It is like a job. You train four in the morning and four in the evenings. While down here (Barbados) we put in an hour and we say that is training but that can’t be training. That is just not enough to compete against teams that are professionals who train hard. So, fitness is key. You Might Be Interested In Pybus returns Holder is number two Ferdinand on the mend “Movement of the football, some of these fellas like they still do not realise that moving off the ball without the ball is key. You can’t play with the ball all the time. Sometimes you have to run off the ball to create spaces for the other players and I think they are lacking that imagination in movementation off the football,” Prescott said. He added: “Systems, some of the fellas do not understand the difference between a formation and a system. The formation is how you line up on the field, the system is the execution of the formation. You could line up in a four, three, three that is a formation, but the execution of that is a different level. Where you have to be at a certain time on the field, when the ball is in a certain space you have to be there. Different positions on the field to execute the formation, that is the system, and I think some of the fellas in Barbados lack that too. “So, that is the coach’s job to teach players how to develop that particular gift in movementation of the football. It is the coach’s job to carry them through piece by piece, basics by basics for them to understand the system from the formation.” One of the first players in Barbados to gain a football scholarship where he attended Adelphi University and was listed as an All-American, Prescott referenced three-time Barbados Football Association Premier League champions Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme as a good example of possessing tremendous work ethic. He also encouraged other clubs to aspire to that level if they are truly serious about the sport. He noted that Barbados was 50 to 60 years behind some of the world’s best teams such as World Cup winners Germany, France and Brazil. Prescott said players should be paid to play. He noted that the days of players working eight to nine hours a day and rushing on evenings to reach training should be a thing of the past. That, he explained, would physically destroy Barbados’ top footballers. “When it comes to football in Barbados and we could put it on the highest level, England, Brazil, France, I think that we are fifty, sixty years behind that. We can’t play against Germany, we would get beat badly because they are professionals, they train every day. They have good medical support, train hard in the gym because they are professionals and you can’t put amateurs to be professional footballers. “We have to get some of the fellas in this country as professionals. That is why I rate the soldiers because they are the closest to being professionals. When football was playing for ninety minutes, Barbados football was still at sixty minutes. We were playing sixty minutes while the rest of the world was at ninety. In our time we had no floodlights, so we had to get there early, put in our training and that is it. But now they have floodlights they should put in more time. “We are amateurs because fellas are working and then have to leave work to train. It is best that we get a big squad, pay them professionally. Build a proper stadium that has apartments with gyms, a medical centre where these fellas could live in the apartments and have time to get up in the morning and train throughout the whole day,” Prescott said. The Randy Harris-led BFA administration is working towards qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World which will be co-hosted among Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. Prescott encouraged the local governing body to look for quality professional players with Barbadian heritage to fulfil its World Cup dream. “You have to get the players that are overseas that have Bajan heritage that can play for the island. We have some quality youngsters here, yes, I agree. But we need quality professional footballers. “Jamaica did it. Jamaica went to England and all over the earth and brought in all the professional players and gave them citizenship. We have to get top class players from all over the world. We have a player in Israel (Nicholas Blackman), we need to get more of these fellas, these fellas are professionals,” he explained. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb Barbados Today Stay informed and engaged with our digital news platform. The leading online multimedia news resource in Barbados for news you can trust. You may also like … Pride battle to slim lead over Scorpions 14/02/2025 Rizwan, Salman spearhead record run chase 13/02/2025 Pride take upper hand on Scorpions 13/02/2025