2 months ago
8
FOLLOWING AN extensive rebrand at the start of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL), various coaches have noted an improvement in the league’s operations. However, they also believe there is still a lot of work to be done.
The JWPL is in full swing, having played match week 17 yesterday, and the coaches involved have begun to sing the praises of the league’s improved standards.
Before the start of the season, the league revealed a new brand identity which came along with several lucrative sponsors and key partnerships.
The rebrand also coincided with the launch of the Professional Women’s Football Jamaica Limited (PWFJL), which has been tasked with marketing and developing the JWPL.
One of the coaches who has praised the new direction of the JWPL is Mile Gully’s Marlon Hylton, who applauded the league’s initiatives both on and off the field of play.
“Trust me, it has improved a lot,” Hylton said. “You can clearly see it where uniforms are concerned and you can see it when the girls are coming out in the uniforms sponsored by Hummel and that is a big push for the league.
“We see a lot of workshops being held for the girls outside of being on the field. Those off-the-field workshops have really helped the girls based on where they are now and where they want to be in the future.”
Another coach who has applauded the league for its improvement this season is Los Perfectos’ head coach Maurice Duncan.
But while he was happy to see the various improvements, Duncan believes this is just the start and there is still a lot of work to be done by the various stakeholders.
One of his most pressing concerns is the amount of groundwork being done by several teams in the league, which he describes as being inadequate.
He believes this has affected the level of competition in the league and if not addressed, could stall the progress of women’s football in Jamaica.
NOT ENOUGH GROUNDWORK
“If you look at it, those teams are the ones that are not doing so well and one of the reasons for that is, I think, they wanted to participate in the competition, but there is not enough groundwork done in terms of recruitment and development in getting the better players to represent your team,” Duncan explained.
Duncan pointed to the examples set by defending champions Frazsiers Whip along with Cavalier and Arnett Gardens as clubs who have placed the right infrastructure and groundwork in order to field competitive teams.
“You will find that the teams like Arnett, the Cavalier and the Frazsiers Whip, they will always be on top because of the groundwork being done to the structure of their club,” he said.
“If the clubs are not structured properly, they will always struggle.”
Duncan believes while the onus is on the clubs to ensure they are ready to play at the highest level, it is also a responsibility of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to ensure clubs are able to meet a minimum standard to compete in the league.
“The different levels of club organisation really shows at the games and if the JFF can incentivise the coaches or incentivise the clubs and stuff like that, as to how they want the clubs to operate, then I think we will get better results.”
English (US) ·