SINCE 2011 there have been numerous discussions about restructuring Jamaica’s football. For all intents and purposes, much of the discussion, though well-intended, has failed to provide an agreed pathway forward.

Truth is, it is only natural for us to be resistant to change and especially when such change is either unclear with regard to specific outcomes or when it will necessitate the relinquishing of power/influence. Change is also very slow when it is intrinsically bedded with political fortunes.

Change is said to be the only constant and to be inevitable. Constant change occurs in one of three ways: gradual, catastrophic or quasi. Over the past two decades, the football league structure in Jamaica has seen many changes — gradual and quasi. Our premier league has endured much change from format to number of teams to sponsors and sponsorship to Monday night football and more.

There was an ‘A’ League which was replaced by confederation leagues which have since been abolished in two of those sub-regional groupings.

Current trends and development in football demand further changes, quite probably catastrophic changes, which will propel Jamaica to new heights in regional and global football.

A cursory look at Jamaica’s football structure reveals a national league system, including almost 600 teams. This is by no stretch of the imagination progressive, sustainable or helpful in the long-term development of our game.

Approximately 600 teams all vying for a place in our nation’s top flight and to be national champions makes no sense given our population and economy. The enormous potential and endless possibilities that exist which we are largely missing are in large measure inextricably linked to this anomaly.

Football being a sub-category of the larger sports industry is a multibillion-dollar business intrinsically linked to market share. Simple arithmetic and economic application illustrate the unsustainability, the inhibitions and reducing value of our football with such a huge spread. Assuming an equal spread of population support for each club/team the equation is 4,667 to every club. Logically this can be interpreted to mean each club in Jamaica has approximately 4,667 persons from which to choose their players and supporters. At the individual parishes this number may fall below 2,000. These figures include the whole population, the elderly, children, and disabled. Given that this is not the case, then one must wonder exactly how some of these clubs survive. Surely this has to be one main reason for so many clubs becoming extinct or dormant.

Presently there exists one national football league and a plethora of confederation/parish leagues each accounting for varying amounts of sponsorship dollars. Rough estimates compute between $400 million and $600 million of sponsorship money contributed to the various leagues annually. Therefore, the big question is: are we optimising this input and getting optimal value for such massive investment? Surely, that we are not consistently challenging for a place at the senior World Cup; that the exportation of Jamaican footballers to international club teams is way below expectations; that players and coaches in the game are unable to make a decent living from their work; that the development pathway for our youth players is at best a Russian roulette of sorts; that clubs are unable to declare annual profits; and that we are so heavily reliant on overseas based professionals to be competitive in the Caribbean, is an indictment on this existing structure.

A consolidated two-tiered national league structure involving 30-36 teams/clubs would significantly remove all of these anomalies. Much more money would be available, provided existing sponsor remain and new ones engaged, for infrastructure development, youth development, players, coaches and other staff welfare; and by extension increased numbers of local players in our national senior team leading to more export possibilities and thus, the potential for foreign income for clubs and economy.

Imagine that each existing sponsor was investing in a single team which competed in one of two national leagues that are well served with media coverage locally and internationally. That such money could be directed towards infrastructure development and player development and welfare would redound to significant improvement in the local game.

Imagine better venues filled more often than not with fans enjoying the decency and hospitality of the experience, and investing in paraphernalia and memorabilia of their teams. For the sponsors the increased value of having their brands recognised weekly, nationally and internationally, should be much better than what currently obtains.

Our CONCACAF counterparts and CONMEBOL opponents at the current COPA America and likely at next year’s CENTENNIAL Cup are of particular interest. Panama, for example, has a national league structure that is only 28 years old having been founded in 1987, yet they are outperforming us at all levels at the game at present. So, too, is Honduras. Uruguay, our opponents in the opening Copa America fixture tomorrow, has a mere 43 clubs in their country. They have won the World Cup twice, produced Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani and many other global superstars; and their population is only about half-million more than ours.

Technically speaking, all these countries are, maybe with the exception of Nicaragua, way ahead of Jamaica. That we are able to compete with them defies logic. Having the best players competing against each other consistently is fundamental to player development. A consolidated league structure would also provide greater impetus and opportunity and possibilities for 30-36 clubs to invest more purposefully in youth development.

An important aspect of football development escaping our practices here in Jamaica is the role of government. In Germany, the federal government and regional governments include amounts for sports development in their respective budgets. The amounts allocated are tied to past performances and successes of the particular sport. Argentina, Brazil and Russia all at various times in their history have had significant inputs from government in the development of infrastructure and governance structures/systems. Their premises were quite similar; investment in sports — football in particular — was a populist decision. Football is by far the most popular sport in these countries and those governments were able to maintain popularity despite other ills in their countries by investing in the development of football. Maybe there is a lesson here for our politicians, especially since we have already proven our world-beating credentials. In strict football terms, the successes of Tivoli Gardens FC, Arnett Gardens FC and Humble Lion FC are directly dependent on them being the beneficiaries of the political clout and influence of their respective members of parliament who double as club presidents.

One group that is extremely important for any meaningful change to take place is the parish presidents. It is therefore incumbent upon them to illustrate their true love for Jamaica’s football and the development of the game by furthering these discussions to a plausible conclusion that will move us forward. Delaying these discussions and arriving at a workable decision will further retard our development while at the same time denying a generation or two of players the opportunities to realise their full potential and dreams.

Editor’s note: Andrew Edwards is a teacher and football coach at Munro College and head coach of Jamaica’s National Under-17 football team.