New PFJL under-17 competition all about development
Published:Wednesday | February 28, 2024 | 12:11 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL Jamaica Limited (PFJL) is planning to kick-start its inaugural under-17 competition in March, and PFJL CEO Owen Hill says it will help to drive the development of young players and coaches.
Hill revealed that before and during the course of the competition, his organisation will host workshops for coaches, who will be assessed and graded.
He said this is being done to ensure the players get the kind of coaching that will maximise the possibility of successfully transitioning to the next level.
“The under-17 [competition] will be a developmental programme. The key to it will be the developmental side. We are not just hosting a competition because we see at the developmental level, gaps in the execution.
“So you will have coaching components to it, physical training components, individual, team and training components. Then we will have a football festival, which is the competition side of it,” he explained.
Hill said the PFJL fully understands the importance of football education, and the programme will not be geared towards only players and coaches but administrators as well.
“Football education of all stakeholder groups is important. From coaches to players to administrators, everybody will be touched in this process
“This year it will be a pilot but going forward we want to make it a mandatory programme,” he continued.
The coaching programme will be led by top coaches, who will guide the junior coaches over a six-week period.
The PFJL has also partnered with institutions like G.C.Foster, the University of Technology, the Faculty of Sports at the University of the West Indies and the Jamaica Football Federation to assist with the coaching education programme.
TRAINING PLANS
Coaches will be asked to do analysis and produce training plans that will be vetted by senior professionals.
“It will not be just one workshop, it will be consistent. Once we start, and we are looking at March, on a Tuesday, coaches will have to sit in a classroom or digitally learn about their mistakes to get better for the week to come. So they will be in a programme that guides their development and the team’s development.”
The programme is being crafted by some of the nation’s most esteemed coaches, such as Miguel Coley, Rudolph Speid, John Wall, and Andrew Peart.
The under-17 league will include teams from the Jamaica Premier League and the Jamaica Football Championship (Tier II), as well as the National under-15 team.
Teams will be grouped geographically in the early stages to limit expenses.
However, Hill said they have done their groundwork and expect this competition to be one of the premier youth leagues in the region in the next few years.
“We are looking at about 18 or 19 teams now, and we will either expand or narrow down in a meaningful way. It will be a pilot in year one, so we learn and grow.
“We want 16 weeks of developmental football. It doesn’t have to be a set format with traditional competition rules. We are creating a model that guides player development, club development and coaching education,” he said.
“We are extremely confident it will be properly executed and we are taking our time to make sure all the key stakeholders are connected to the execution.”
He added also that they are expected to secure sponsors for the league in short order.
“There are sponsors who we don’t want to say yet because we don’t have it on paper.
“We are also seeking partners on the television side of it, as we definitely see value in that.
“But we want to align the right brand and the right organisation with the product itself.”