Given the position of western football, one would expect the last column of 2009 to be begging fate to fill our football stockings with all kinds of goodies.

The last two years Sporting Edge implored the jolly man with the white beard in the red velour suit to send us better players and administrators, to no avail. From a maximum of four teams in the Premier League at one time, western Jamaica has sunk to just one– Village United–which is struggling badly, not just to win a game, but to score goals on a regular basis.

It is tempting to say western football cannot sink any lower but it is not wise to tempt fate as despite the strong showing of both Seba United and Reno FC so far in the Western Confederation Super League, it is not a given that either of them or the winner will advance to the Premier League next season. Just ask Granville United who came close but failed by mere points not too long ago.

It would be easy to say the cupboard is bare but this would be far from the truth as this year western high schools cleaned up all but one of the major rural area football titles.

Cornwall College won the rural area Under-14, beating Trelawny school William Knibb Memorial; Munro College took the rural area Under 16 while St Elizabeth Technical High took their third daCosta Cup title.

The only rural area title not resting in western Jamaica today is the Ben Francis KO for which Glenmuir High beat Munro College 3-0 in the final.

In the context of the St James High’s double win last year and the success of Westmoreland high schools in the past six years or so since Frome Technical High became the first school from the parish to win a major football title, it is safe to say that good things are happening in western football.

Now whether we will be able to get the current teen age stars to fill the gap left by the most recent set of stars is yet to be seen and this is where the next set of star coaches and administrators must come in to ensure the smooth progression.

What is obvious is that it takes more than just good players to make a good team as both Seba United and Frome FC proved in the Confederation Super League last year, both beaten when it mattered most by a Wadadah team that did enough to finish in the top four, then either peaked or got lucky at the right time.

Efforts to improve the coaching and administration at the club level by a number of administrators including Linnell McLean of both Trelawny and the Western Confederation, George Evans of St James and Everton Tomlinson of Westmoreland, must be encouraged.

But right now, given the exploits of our youngsters, we can legitmately hope that change in the form of a prosperous and safe 2010 is in the cards for us.