Tuscany Warriors, Port Saint Lucie in player exchange programme

THREE PLAYERS from the Port Saint Lucie Soccer Club, a United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) team, based in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, will be in the island next week to join up with Westmoreland Major League outfit, Tuscany Warriors, for the start of the Westmoreland Major League season.

Club chairman and president of Tuscany Warriors Football Club, Horace Daley, recently met with president of Port Saint Lucie Soccer Club, Pete Dibernardo, its general manager Matt Yates and former Reggae Boyz midfielder Altimont Butler to forge the partnership between both football clubs. Butler is the current technical director of Port Saint Lucie Soccer Club and head coach of their United Premier Soccer League squad.

The partnership will allow players from Port Saint Lucie to travel to Jamaica and play in the upcoming Westmoreland Football Association Major League as part of the football clubs’ development programmes. In return, Tuscany Warriors players will be sponsored and then allowed to travel to the United States to play in the UPSL as part of the exchange programme. The Westmoreland Major League kicked off on Sunday, March 1,

Amin Maalouf, Juan Tinajero, and Jonathan Zamarano are the three Port Saint Lucie players expected to play a part in the Tuscany Warriors season, and Daley, who founded the club in 2018, has predicted that there will be exciting times ahead.

“This is an exciting time for our players and Westmoreland football on a whole. This will restore hope for our young men in the parish who will be able to showcase their talent overseas,” Daley said.

His sentiments were supported by Butler, who said programmes like these are needed to lift Jamaica’s football to another level. “Players will understand the importance of discipline on and off the field. Opportunities are there for Jamaica’s footballers, and this is just the start of a great initiative between both football clubs,” stated Butler.

Daley also added that football can also help to lower the spiralling crime level in the parish and the nation on a whole.

The UPSL is an American professional development league with teams in regionalised conferences throughout the United States.