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The National Tackle Football Association (NTFA) will open the 2025 Secondary School Gridiron League (SSGL) Flag Football season today at Brooks Park in Mandeville. The games are set to start at 9 a.m.
The competition is entering its sixth staging and 11 schools are registered to compete this year, six teams in the boys’ category and five in the girls’.
Munro College, Newell High, Mona High, May Day High, New Forrest High and Black River High are all down to compete for the prestigious KOC Flag Football Championship Trophy in the boys’ category.
B.B. Coke, Newell, May Day, Mona and New Forrest will contest the five-team girls’ competition.
Speaking ahead of the season’s start, NTFA executive director Jerome Harriott said the date was intentionally picked to be one day before the National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl in the United States.
Harriott is hoping the anticipation ahead of the sport’s biggest game would help feed into the excitement for fans of the growing sport in Jamaica.
“Football (American) fans worldwide will be glued to their screens on February 9, watching the NFL Super Bowl. We’re excited to bring that same level of excitement to Jamaica the same weekend as our young athletes take to the field to compete for flag football supremacy,” the competition’s executive director explained.
“We’re proud to provide a platform for boys and girls to develop their skills, build their confidence, and pursue their dreams.”
The SSGL Flag Football competition is seen as a development league by the NTFA, to help hone the talents of some of the best athletes Jamaica has to offer.
The competition has received support from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Sports Development Fund and the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association.
The season, which is scheduled to end on March 22, will continue the NTFA’s aim of securing scholarship opportunities for athletes to progress their academic and sporting ambitions to the next level.
With the rise in opportunities for athletes in colleges due to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals, the NTFA believes the SSGL competitions and continued rising interest in the sport will help provide a key platform for Jamaican athletes.
English (US) ·