Jamaica gears up for drone soccer World Cup

DRONE SOCCER is a rapidly emerging sport that Jamaica seems set to be right at the helm of.

Team Jamaica is gearing up to represent the island at the 2025 Federation of International Drone Soccer Association (FIDA) Drone Soccer World Cup in South Korea, the birthplace of the sport, in September.

According to Dervon McKellop, president of Jamaica Drone Soccer, one of the objectives is to unite enthusiasts worldwide and establish the sport as a prominent fixture on the global stage.

“Drone soccer is a cutting-edge team sport where players fly drones enclosed in protective cages and compete to score goals by navigating them through a vertical hoop on the opponent’s side of the field. It originated in South Korea, designed as an educational platform to engage youth in drone-related technology. Far beyond mere entertainment, drone soccer was designed to promote STEAM education and inspire future engineers, pilots, and innovators through an exciting and hands-on format,” McKellop said.

With drone soccer expanding across Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe in recent years, this inaugural World Cup serves as a foundation to support its global growth with structured systems and institutions. It represents the launchpad for creating technical standards, formalising game rules, and fostering a framework for international cooperation.

“Drone soccer is a holistic embodiment of STEAM education. Students learn to assemble drones (engineering), understand flight principles and sensors (science and technology), apply coding and control systems (mathematics), and express creativity through team branding and strategic planning (arts). This interdisciplinary approach offers experiential learning, while developing critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills,” McKellop said.

PROGRAMME ACCESSIBILITY

Students typically join through their schools, youth centres, or public educational programmes. Educators undergo training to lead drone soccer programmes, and students form teams to build, programme, and fly drones. They participate in regional tournaments, STEAM camps, or exchange events. The programme is also accessible for beginners.

McKellop said Jamaica Drone Soccer is finalising the dates for the Jamaica leg of the STEAM camps. They are looking to host the first leg in Montego Bay and a second in Kingston.

“This will be the first hosting of the Drone Soccer STEAM Camp in Jamaica. As you are aware, camps are normally held during the summer vacation in the month of August; however, due to the World Cup being in September, we are looking to host the camp and national trials in early June or July.

“These immersive camps allow students to learn drone assembly, piloting, develop teamwork, and participate in friendly matches. DRIFT Enterprise UAV Services, the company that manages Jamaica Drone Soccer, also provides online and in-person training programmes for persons or organisations interested in becoming qualified drone soccer officials such as head referees, assistant referees responsible for penalties and scoring, and coaches,” McKellop said.

The Drone Soccer World Cup is the premier global competition for the sport, featuring national and club teams from FIDA member countries. Jamaica is an official FIDA member, which means the country is eligible to host national qualifiers to select both national and club teams for the World Cup.

In addition to drone soccer as the main event, two demonstration categories, racing and superpilot, will be introduced, offering a broader showcase of drone sports.