Under-23 Footballers prepare

Story and Photos By Anthony De Beauville

The technical department of the St. Lucia National Football Association continues to oversee the preparation of St. Lucia National Under 23 Footballers in training ahead of the final selection for St. Lucia’s participation 9 weeks before the September 9th, 2007 Olympic Qualifying first round in St.Vincent and the Grenadines and the second round 4 weeks later October 9th.
Dennis Lukens, coach of the Under 23 squad who is supported by senior national player Jonathan Mc Vane has been in the thick of things these past few days trying to come up with the right combination as they are engaged in a series of training sessions.
This reporter spoke to coach Lukens at a break during the build up and he said, “All is going on fine . The players are punctual and their willingness to train hard is at a all time high. There are quite a few areas the technical staff will be looking at, but with time we will get there and ensure that St. Lucia gets the right balance on the field of play.”
Coach Lukens has also spoken highly of his assistant Mc Vane and the manner in which he has carried out his duties in the preparation period. Lukens further went on to say that the screening session has already started amongst the 50 plus players called up for training by the SLFA thus far and the wait period will soon be over when the final 20 will be selected.
Busy but with a few minutes to spare Lukens further stated that, “Such process augurs well for football in St. Lucia where everyone gets a fair chance to prove them selves and it also gives the technical team a chance to work with everyone where we can only hope to perform well in our competitive outings to come.”