AFTER years of struggling to find a backer for its competitions, the St James Football Association has found a new sponsor as mobile services provider CLARO announced a four-year deal worth $12 million for the parish’s Senior League and Division One competitions yesterday.

“We do acknowledge that football begins at the grassroots level and when we were approached by the St James Football Association we thought it would be a good opportunity to develop the players, and we want to be a part of developing the players at that level,” CLARO marketing officer Latoy Williams told the Observer.

“Most sponsorship is centred on those who have made it already, and we need to start at the training stage to make them what they can become,” she added.

St James’ football has suffered a regression from its heyday when as many three parish teams were in the island’s top-flight competition, while several St James-based players were members of the historic Reggae Boyz outfit which competed at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

Village United of Trelawny is currently the only team from the western region that plays in the local premiership.

The deal will also see several fields in and around Montego Bay branded with CLARO paraphernalia.

Twelve teams will participate in the Senior League, while 11 will play in Division One.

Action in both competitions begins on Saturday with a double-header at Jarrett Park with West Green versus Rosemount in the Division One opener at 3:00 pm and Tomorrow’s People versus Granville City in the first Senior League game.