Lannaman’s Prep’s Tyquan Mcdougall (left) and Liberty Academy’s Wagaar Francisface off during the Junior Cup Under-11 Football Competition at the Constant Spring football field on Saturday.
PAULA PINNOCK, managing director of the Youth Football League (YFL) Junior Cup Under-11 competition, said the staging of Saturday’s eastern regional tournament was a major success and gives her confidence ahead of the upcoming weeks.
In a day filled with non-stop action, Pinnock said she was pleased with the way her team was able to execute the Junior Cup’s first weekend of games.
She said the success was also important as Kingston represented their most technical region of operation.
“Kingston, for anything that you’re doing is always the test ground. For us, having executed here makes us more confident in what we’re going to do in Montego Bay and Manchester,” said Pinnock.
“We’re very happy with the tournament and how we were able to execute today. We had a goal in mind of ensuring that we ran on time, that the tournament ran smoothly and that we were able to finish on time, especially in light of the impending weather. On that end, we’re very proud as the matches, for the most part, ran on schedule and that is a win for us.”
Pinnock said not only was the tournament a success for the organisers, it was also a success for the teams and the fans who were treated to quality displays of grassroots football.
She pointed to the participation of several powerhouses in primary and preparatory school competitions who dazzled fans with their talent on the field.
“We had over 80 goals in just one day of competition so that in and of itself speaks volumes,” she said.
“We’re seeing teams that have never participated in the tournament before, like Lannaman’s who are a big powerhouse, obviously congratulations to them as they won today. So overall, the competition was great.”
She continued, “So it was a good day and we like the fact that we had a school like Grants Pen Primary who came all the way from St Thomas and that is what we like to see.”
The competition will host its next regional on October 5 at West Pow Park in Montego Bay before moving to its central regionals at the Kirkvine Sports Complex on October 12.
The best teams from each region will then advance to the all-island finals set to return to Kingston on October 19.
Pinnock said the competition continues to grow each year as more teams continue to show an interest in participating.
The managing director believes the increase will mean there will likely be a need to revisit the competition’s format.
“We always want the numbers to be more but obviously it is a one-day event, so we have to now look at the model and the structure to see how we accommodate more schools. For us, this is a preseason event about getting the kids ready for the INSPORTS and JISA tournaments, so we want as many kids to participate as possible, which is why we go to the different regions.
“We have to control the numbers but at the same time make it big enough that more schools can enter.”
