Caribbean Cup rivals look to restore joy after Hurricane Melissa

SIMILAR to many of their countrymen, the footballers and background staff at Jamaican giants Mount Pleasant Football Academy are trying to rebuild and put the pieces back together after the devastating passage of Hurricane Melissa on the Caribbean island on October 28. Up to press time on November 3, the death toll in the aftermath of the Category 5 hurricane had risen to 32, as per the country’s Information minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon.

In the parish of St Ann on the northern side of the island, Mount Pleasant have also been hit hard as the club’s sporting director Paul Christie told Newsday fallen trees and light poles have caused structural damage at the club’s training facility and their Drax Hall Sports Complex venue. Even as the team continues to prepare for the second leg of their Concacaf Caribbean Cup semifinal with TT Premier Football League (TTPFL) holders Defence Force at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica from 7 pm (TT time) on November 5, Christie and team officials were busy at work trying to restore Mount Pleasant’s facilities to their pre-Melissa look. The second leg was pushed back from its originally scheduled date of October 29, as Jamaica braced for impact.

Last season’s Jamaica Premier League runners-up will take a huge 5-1 advantage into the second leg against Trinidad and Tobago’s Army/Coast Guard combination after a brilliant showing at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on October 22, but Christie said the upcoming encounter now means so much more.

“Make no bones about it, every single life and livelihood in Jamaica has been affected. In the case of Mount Pleasant, we have to draw on our strength as a group and our resilience and try to recover. This game on Wednesday has taken a significant turn,” Christie said, in a November 3 interview.

“It’s not just a game, but it’s about showing the resilience of our people to see how soon we can turn back to some semblance of normalcy...this is the very first time Jamaica would have seen the magnitude of a hurricane like this on any level.”

He said electricity, water and internet was still to be restored to St Ann, but assured the club was doing all in its power to get back on sound footing while also doing its part in helping the wider Jamaican community.

“Our mandate has always been that if there’s a way, our job is to find it,” he said. “As a people, we feel it, and we’re pulling together and we’re trying. As a club, we have started our donation drive to see if we can help our less fortunate brothers and sisters from the central western end of Jamaica, who got the significant brunt of the hurricane.”

The clash with the Army will be free of charge, but the club has encouraged patrons to make minimum cash donations of Jamaican $1,000 to aid in relief efforts, which will focus on the Jacob’s Ladder Mustard Seed Community in St Ann, Treasure Beach FC and the Treasure Beach community in St Elizabeth and other affected residents in the St Ann region. Additionally, the public has been invited to drop off non-perishable food items and other essentials such as toiletries, flashlights and solar lights at the national stadium from November 4.

Christie said he couldn’t put a monetary figure on the damage to the Mount Pleasant facilities, but said, “I know there is some real damage, and the truth of the matter is we’re actually not the worst. People from the western side, from Montego Bay and St Elizabeth, from other clubs, they’re feeling it more than us.

“We’re still having things to celebrate...and we’re just happy to be here and fly the flag of Jamaica and Mount Pleasant at this point. We’ll be showing up on Wednesday to show our very best of the resilience in the Jamaican people, and we’ll live with the result thereafter.”

As a club, he says Mount Pleasant feel privileged to have the opportunity to use football as a medium to restore a bit of pride to the country.

And although his team has a four-goal cushion in the tie, Christie said they will not be taking Defence Force lightly.

“(Defence Force are) a really worthy opponent. History won’t show that there was a hurricane – we’re totally aware of that...they’ll be coming (hard). They know it’s a task (comeback) that has been done before and can be done.

“There’s nothing to celebrate at this time. The truth of the matter is that preparation would have been affected through no fault of our technical team or anyone whatsoever. It’s been a natural disaster. However, we’ll still try to find a way to do the best we can.”

A CHANCE TO UNITE THROUGH FOOTBALL

In the opposing camp, interim Defence Force coach Devorn Jorsling said this second leg provides a great chance for the teams to unite the island through the beautiful game.

“Football unites people and unites countries. So in spite of the natural disaster Jamaica had last week, if anything could pull the people closer together, it’s football,” Jorsling told Newsday. “Hopefully, we can go out there and give the people a good game of football just to take their mind off the losses they may have in terms of livestock, vehicles, or homes.”

A 21-member Defence Force squad arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport on the morning of November 3 and were expected to have their first session after press time on the same day. Defence Force haven’t started the TTPFL season at the top of their game, as they had successive draws against 2023/24 TTPFL champions AC Port of Spain (0-0) and FC Eagles (2-2) – the latter clash being played on November 1.

Despite a slow start to their TTPFL defence and the thumping they received in the first leg against Mount Pleasant, Jorsling remains upbeat.

“It’s a big deficit, but in football we’ve seen stranger things happening. Nothing is impossible in football, and we will be approaching the game with that mindset. It’s more so to restore some pride and show that the first leg was a one-off and it was just a bad day office.”

The injury bug has also struck the Army camp at an inopportune time, as Isaiah Leacock, the team’s joint-top scorer in the league last season, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury, with the quartet of Tyrese Bailey, Jameel Cooper, and Kathon and Jabari St Hillaire also being sidelined.

“We obviously would have loved to win the competition. There’s still a chance. Maybe it’s slim, but it’s still possible,” he said.

The Caribbean Cup’s top three teams will qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, with the Caribbean winners progressing automatically to the last 16 of the latter tourney.

“All is not lost...finishing third (will be) a massive achievement for our club. The focus hasn’t changed where that is concerned for me and the boys.”