Junior Cup is a success, says organiser
WITH THE 2024 Youth Football League’s Junior Cup Under-12 and Under-13 competitions closing this weekend with their all-island finals, the competitions’ managing director Paula Pinnock says she is happy with the turnout she has seen this season.
The Junior Cup has seen three weekends of non-stop action across the country, as the competitions were split into three regional divisions, before an all-island finals between the best teams from each regional.
This year, the competition played their regionals in Kingston, Manchester and St Ann.
Pinnock said while she had always expected a big turnout in the Kingston regionals, she was pleasantly surprised with the number of teams that participated in the Manchester and St Ann regionals.
“Kingston was always going to be a flagship for any competition,” she said. “It is for us to collectively push to ensure that sports is being promoted across the island. The objective is to have this competition reaching every corner of Jamaica, so the growth in Manchester has been amazing and Manchester will certainly become a staple for us. because the response in that parish has been tremendous.
“We tried going to St Ann last time and it didn’t work. but this time around, it did work and the turnout was amazing. We had Mount Pleasant coach Theodore Whitmore at the game and lending us his support. so that was tremendous.
We are inspired by what we’ve seen but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Pinnock explained that the Junior Cup has been going in stature since their first staging in 2022, and has also caught the attention of notable figures in the nation.
Former Reggae Boyz head coach Whitmore was present during the St Ann regionals last week while current Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Halgrimsson was seen at the staging of the Kingston regionals i n the competition’s opening week.
However, Pinnock explained that while there has been an increase in participation, she hopes that more schools will get involved in the competition next year.
“We’re definitely seeing improvements from when we started in 2022, more clubs and more schools are catching on to the fact that we are a legitimate tournament.
“There are still challenges as it relates to player participation and school involvement. Schools are not necessarily used to tournaments at this time of the year or the level of competition for an Under-13 versus Under-12 tournament. So some of them do have challenges getting the age groups together, but it is improving.”
The all-island finals are set for tomorrow at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Bowl, with the first match to kick off at 9 a.m.