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He had a trial last year with IK Start in Norway but did not make the cut. I believe his attitude, professionalism and work hard makes him a good candidate for MLS.
I think Lovell is a solid player and versatile one to have in a squad, I don't think he offers MLS teams anything different from the typical American footballer. Either way, I wish him all the best.
In another thread, I've said that the performance against Argentina will open up doors for this current team; all this recent interest from MLS comes as no surprise.
Still caan figure out the vibes of some a dese forumites who a promote progress fi the Jamaican ballas verbally pon de forum but still have the most negative response when di progress finally begin to happen.
Weh mi figga is dat most a de man dem neva play football demselves, are not players and hav 'red eye' envy fi players who dem still a run up dem mout bout. so typical of the 'armchair' amateur football followers around the world !!
LOL!! cho trut is relative. don wtach no face my yute, we all have we personal agenda a gwaan. My aim is to see Jamaica's footballers progress against all odds, as a former player myself so u have to accept my bias, u si mi !
Jermaine Taylor, Lovell Palmer and Navion Boyd Jermaine Taylor, Lovell Palmer and Navion Boyd 1/1
NATIONAL players Jermaine Taylor, Navion Boyd and Lovel Palmer are expected to leave the island tomorrow for trials with US Major League clubs DC United and Houston Dynamo.
Tivoli Gardens' Striker Boyd, 23, and Harbour View's utility player Palmer, 25, will have try-outs with the Houston Dynamo.
Meanwhile central defender Taylor, 25, of Portland-based St Georges, was expected to join up with DC United some time ago, but should do so tomorrow.
Only recently, Rivoli United's striker Devon Hodges left for another US Major League outfit, Colorado Rapids, and 17-year-old schoolboy Marvin Morgan Jnr went to English Premier League team Birmingham City.
The Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) last week announced that it has embarked on an ambitious initiative to catapult as many local footballers into the North American professional league as possible to generate much-needed funds for its struggling members.
The PLCA, headed by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, revealed that the clubs are in dire straits financially as sponsors have cut back due to the prevailing economic climate.
With that in mind, other means of financing had to be sought, and the 'exporting' of top-quality players from the league could be a way of generating funds.
The initial plan of the PLCA is to try and place at least one player from each club, and Seaga said this programme holds much promise for Jamaican football.
I am happy these players are getting a look elsewhere, only hope they make use of the chance to shine. The PLCA is finally seeing the option to market players overseas to generate revenue this have been an option that have been echoed many times.
Professional management=Professional league=Professional players=Revenue.
I understand why the PLCA deem it necessary to export players but why in the middle of the season. This move just waters down the NPL. Four(to include Devon Hodges) of the leagues brightest stars are shipped away while the league is approaching the home stretch. THe PLCA need to revisit this policy.
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I think they should have thought about this in December so they players could have gone it early January. MLS also has a two-week break this year in June, so they could also leave then.
If the players them going to be much better off financially, then I hope they can leave as quickly as possible. Yes the quality of NPL goes down a bit, but is better off for the players and at least the club can get a little cash infusion.
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Local duo look to land MLS deals Published: Tuesday | February 23, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport
REGGAE BOYZ Lovel Palmer and Navion Boyd are hoping to capitalise on a one-week trial opportunity with Houston Dynamo and land a professional contract in the United States Major League Soccer (MLS).
The duo left the island yesterday morning and joined the Texas-based MLS outfit in Orlando, Florida, where the team is holding a preseason training camp.
"I feel good," said Boyd, a striker who plays for Tivoli Gardens, prior to their early morning departure from the Norman Manley International Airport. "I want to go there and be a part of it."
Palmer, a versatile player who operates effectively as a midfielder or full back and is attached to Harbour View Football Club, says the trial gives him a sense of achievement.
"I feel elated to know that my talent and performance isn't gone unrecognised," he said. "I'm blessed to be going on a trial. This is what I've been working for."
He added. "It's just for me to go there and execute and hope that, at the end of the day, they will see what the national coach (Theodore Whitmore) has seen in me, and feel impressed to include me in their set-up. Being a part of the national team and playing in the last couple of games, I have to give thanks to coach Whitmore for that."
This is the second trial opportunity for Palmer, who did a stint at Norwegian club IK Start in February last year.
"Now I'm more experienced, I'll use the last one as a learning curve," admitted the 25-year-old, who has so far scored six goals in the premier league this season.
Creditable performance
Both have captained their premier league outfits at different periods this season and were starters in Jamaica's friendly international football match against soccer powerhouse Argentina a fortnight ago, in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The match ended 2-1 in favour of the eighth-ranked South Americans. given their creditable performance, both say the experience gained in the national lineup has strengthened their self-belief.
"It's very high, right now," Boyd said of his confidence, adding that it has also been heightened by "my performance in the premier league and the national programme; it has helped me a lot".
Continuing, he noted: "I think opportunities like this you have to take with both hands. Everybody's dream is to play at the highest level, but you've to start from somewhere," added the 22-year-old striker ,who was substituted early on Sunday in Tivoli Gardens' 4-0 triumph at Sporting Central Academy, for precautionary reasons.
"My club took me off early, just after we had scored the first goal because they didn't want to risk me getting injured," said Boyd, who has netted 10 goals this season.
Contrastingly, Palmer's team came out on the losing end of a three-goal game at August Town, where they actually led. He says this opportunity is "very timely", and pointed out that he pondered quitting the game.
"At a point at the beginning of the 2010 season I was having some mixed feelings. I was saying that this would be the last season for my club, and was thinking of calling it off and stop playing. But when coach Whitmore called me for the Ecuador game it gave me some boost again ... that your work had not gone unnoticed.
"So I made a commitment to myself that I just want to give one more season. I'm pulling out all the stops, putting out all the extra work that is needed, and it seems to be paying off."
Opportunities
The opportunity is being facilitated by the Premier League Clubs Association, whose assistant secretary, Pat Garel, accompanied the players to the airport.
"It is in an effort to assist the clubs to provide opportunities to the players ... and to provide financial opportunities for the clubs," she noted of their involvement, noting that if the players are successful, contracts "... would be negotiated with their clubs".
Only last week, another Reggae Boy, Rivoli United's Devon Hodges, who is the league's leading goalscorer, left for a trial stint at MLS team Colorado Rapids.
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The Houston Dynamo used a second-half hat trick from Dominic Oduro to earn a 4-1 scrimmage win over the University of Central Florida Tuesday afternoon at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The Dynamo will next compete in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic this weekend, their first competition against MLS teams this preseason. Houston will face the New York Red Bulls on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT, with Toronto FC and FC Dallas playing in the other semifinal. The losers will play at 5 p.m. on Saturday, and the winners will play at 7:30 p.m. Fans can hear both Dynamo games via an internet-only radio broadcast on HoustonDynamo.com. In Tuesday's scrimmage, the Dynamo started four new trialists in their first day with the team: Navion Boyd (Jamaica), Jonathan De León (Mexico), Lovel Palmer (Jamaica), and Shaun Saiko (Canada). Boyd scored the opening goal in the 28th minute after De León laid back a cross from Danny Cruz. UCF tied the game in the 36th minute, as Kevin George scored from an Eduardo Jimenez free kick.
In the second half, the Dynamo continued in a 3-5-2 formation but changed lineups, and Dominic Oduro netted three goals in a 14-minute span to earn Houston the win. Brian Mullan set up the first goal with a cross, although he later missed a penalty kick, and Oduro also scored on a breakaway and from a deflected Corey Ashe cross. Oduro now has seven goals in his last three preseason appearances. Goalkeepers Tally Hall and Tyler Deric split the action for Houston.
Houston Dynamo vs. Central Florida February 23, 2010 - ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Preseason scrimmage
Scoring Summary: HOU -- Navion Boyd (Jonatan De León, Danny Cruz) 28 UCF -- Kevin George (Eduardo Jimenez) 36 HOU -- Dominic Oduro (Brian Mullan) 61 HOU -- Dominic Oduro (unassisted) 64 HOU -- Dominic Oduro (unassisted) 74
Houston Dynamo 1st half -- Tally Hall, Ryan Cochrane, Bobby Boswell, Wade Barrett, Danny Cruz, Lovel Palmer, Jonathan De León, Shaun Saiko, Francisco Navas, Navion Boyd, David Walker.
Houston Dynamo 2nd half -- Tyler Deric, Erik Ustruck, Eddie Robinson, Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan, Sammy Appiah, Peter Maciel, Léandre Griffit, Corey Ashe, Cam Weaver, Dominic Oduro.
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
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quote] Dynamo down Dallas 2-1 in Pro Soccer Classic Weaver's goal decisive in early edition of Lone Star rivalry 02/27/2010 7:59 PM Houston Dynamo Media Relations
Cam Weaver continued his excellent preseason with the winner against Dallas. (Getty Images) Related
The Houston Dynamo earned a 2-1 win against intra-state rival FC Dallas in the third-place match of the preseason Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic Saturday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. Houston improved to 1-0-1 in the preseason against MLS opposition. The Dynamo's next preseason action will come in a home scrimmage on Sunday, March 7, as the Dynamo host the Austin Aztex at 1 p.m. at the Carl Lewis Track & Field Complex.
On Saturday, Houston and Dallas -- both of which had been shut out on Thursday -- traded first-half goals. Dallas opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Marvin Chavez stripped the Dynamo back line and raced in alone on Pat Onstad, eventually slotting a pass to David Ferreira for an easy tap-in. Houston came right back in the 16th minute when Jamaican trialist Lovel Palmer let loose with a 35-yard blast that caromed in off the right post after Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala got a hand to it. Each team also had a golden chance shortly before halftime. In the 41st minute, the Dynamo's Francisco Navas laid the ball back to Geoff Cameron, and his left-footed cross found Danny Cruz at the far post. Cruz, who hit the post twice on Thursday, bounced a left-footed shot just wide of the far post. Dallas had a chance on a corner kick in the 44th minute on a Dax McCarty corner kick, but an Atiba Harris volley went high.
Cameron and Brian Ching made their first preseason appearances for Houston since Feb. 6, after returning from U.S. national team duty. Brad Davis, who was also with the national team, sat out due to a hamstring injury.
The Dynamo made six changes to start the second half and eventually used nine substitutes. Houston almost took the lead early in the second half when Léandre Griffit floated a back-post shot that Sala tipped off the crossbar and out for a corner kick.
The Dynamo did go on top in the 53rd minute when trialist Navion Boyd reacted first to a Dallas back pass and broke in alone on Sala. Boyd's shot was saved, but Weaver fired the rebound into the net from 20 yards out as Sala scrambled to get back.
Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad had to make one big save to preserve the win, when a cross fell to Dallas midfielder Eric Alexander 15 yards from goal in the 68th minute. Onstad came out and squared up to the shooter, diving to his right to deny Alexander at the near post. The Dynamo hung on from there for the win.
The Dynamo will return to Houston tomorrow and resume training on Monday. The MLS regular season will begin March 27, with the Dynamo playing at FC Dallas, and Houston's home opener is scheduled for Thursday, April 1, against defending MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake.
FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo February 27, 2010 - ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic third place
Reggae Boyz, Harbour View's Digicel Premier League captain Lovel Palmer (left) and captain of the Tivoli Gardens FC Navion Boyd appear contented as they await their flight home from the Miami International Airport yesterday. The two were returning from a one-week trial stint with Major League Soccer outfit the Houston Dynamo, where Boyd got on the scoresheet in a scrimmage early last week, while Palmer scored a 30-yard screamer in a full field game. St Georges Sports Club's captain Jermaine Taylor, another Reggae Boy, was also expected to have a trial stint with DC United, but had not yet departed up to Sunday, while yet another Reggae Boy, Rivoli United's Devon Hodges is currently on trial with Colorado Rapids. These trial stints were organised by the Premier League Clubs Association, which recently announced that it has embarked on an ambitious initiative to catapult as many local footballers into the North American professional league as possible to generate much-needed funds for its struggling members.
(Photo: Garfield Robinson)
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