Director Jerome Harriott says the National Tackle Football Association (NTFA) will introduce a Junior Varsity programme (JV) in high schools next year, to focus on youth development in the sport.

Harriott says that the JV programme is an Under-17 fifth-form league, which is designed to develop and improve the technical skills of the younger, less experienced athletes who are interested in playing tackle football competitively at the high school level. But, he says it is dependent on the reintroduction of sports in schools in the upcoming school year.

“Smaller institutions such as New Forest Primary and Junior High School (NFHS) in Manchester will compete in the newly developed JV programme, which will allow for only fifth-formers or below to play in JV games,” he said.

“With them being one of the youngest teams in the league, NFHS has a number of inexperienced athletes that will enter the NTFA Gridiron Junior Varsity developmental league.

“We have realised that there are a lot of fifth-form to third-form guys that really cannot compete with the older guys. So, what we have done was to split the programmes into two, but everybody plays in a varsity programme. However, what we want to do is give these younger guys some experience and more competitions against each other,” Harriott explained.

The association has added Excelsior High School, Camperdown High School, and several others to the list of schools that have registered to compete in the NTFA Gridiron Tackle League, which has allowed for the opportunity to expand the recruiting numbers for the sport.

Harriott says that the athletes who have exhibited the required skillset on the field of play and in the classroom during the gridiron season last year will be added to the Adrenaline Management Group Recruiting watch list to continue attracting attention from tertiary institutions in the United States and Canada.

– Athena Clarke

Adrenaline Management Group’s top prospects for 2021

Sheldon Clarke – Munro College

Stephane Green – Newell High School

Tyrone Dennis – St Elizabeth Technical High School

Amhara Platt – DeCarteret College

Jordane Brooks – May Day High School

Reneil Ebanks – B.B. Coke High School

Steve Edwards – Belair High School