MONTEGO Bay did not earn the title ‘Sports capital of Jamaica’ by accident, and the thousands who turned out and cheered on the Jamaica Under-17 girls team to their first ever CONCACAF semi-finals at the Montego Bay Sports Complex has reinforced the point.

In Sunday’s game against Mexico, despite rain that fell most of the afternoon, the operators of the Montego Bay Sports Complex were forced to open the bleachers section to accommodate the massive crowd of over 5,000 that showed up.

Nearly 3,000 came for the previous game against Haiti and on Monday, and even without Jamaica playing there was a decent crowd on hand to watch as the USA beat Canada to win Group B.

I must confess that I was among those who were surprised by the turnout as I could not expect persons who would not normally attend schoolboys’ football or Premier League games to turn out to watch Under-17 girls, especially as girls football is still to pick up here in Montego Bay. I had expected the usual football fans to show up and lots of empty seats left over. I was however, pleasantly surprised by the turnout and how quickly the fans embraced players they were seeing for the first time.

The impressive and unexpectedly large turnout of fans, especially on Sunday, caused the organisers to briefly consider charging a nominal entry fee for the semi-finals and finals, but they quickly and smartly thought better of it.

With two FIFA World Cup berths on the line today, fans had better start arriving early or they might not be able to get a seat, even in the bleachers section.

As expected, the success of this tournament has spurred the Jamaica Football Federation to partner with the St James Parish Council to play a friendly international between the senior Reggae Boyz and Trinidad’s Soca Warriors next week Friday and no doubt they will be expecting at least the same size crowd as the one that showed up on Sunday.

Big crowds as sporting events in Montego Bay should not come as a surprise to those who know the voracious appetites of people from western Jamaica for regional and international sporting events.

I recall as a primary school student in the 1970s when thousands would pack into Jarrett Park like sardines in a can sometimes standing in the sun for four days to watch Shell Shield cricket at a time when you could not even get 50 people to watch the same games at Kingston venues.

Fans watching football and cricket games from the ‘Hill Side’ overlooking the eastern end of Jarrett Park gained some notoriety, but little known outside of Montego Bay was that many of those who chose to watch games from the hillside were not there to beat the system at the gate, but because they had a better vantage point than those inside the venue.

Schoolboy football teams, at least when they are winning, has always drawn large crowds and in their heyday Premier League champions Seba United and Wadadah would pack the place on a Sunday afternoon.

It might be far-fetched to hope, but with Montego Bay United at the top of the point’s tables in the Red Stripe Premier League for the first time, some new football fans might be converted and will turn out for games more regularly.