Kingston, Jamaica — As the Guinness Street Football Competition (GSFC) gets ready for its fifth parish finals today, interest in the tournament is going way beyond team hopes and fan appeal.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has been using the four-a-side scrimmage competition to scout players for the National Futsal Team.

“Guinness Street Football is forming the basis of the national outlook,” said Patrick Malcolm, chairman of the JFF Beach Football Committee, who attended the recently held Mandeville leg of the competition to scout potential talent. “We look at the talent right across the board and once they are good people, we will put them into a pool and start the national programme.”

Malcolm was not the only football scout to take an interest in GSFC action. Vassell Reynolds, coach of Red Stripe Premier League semi-finalists Humble Lion, also made the trek to Mandeville to assess the quality of players in the Guinness-sponsored event.

“Futsal is growing like crazy in Jamaica, particularly in St Elizabeth where we have a dedicated futsal competition and beach football competition,” said Malcolm, who is also president of the St Elizabeth Football Association. The football official explained that the JFF had been focusing on educating the public about the game of futsal. “What JFF is doing now is spreading the rules. Guinness, through its Street Football Competition, has also been spreading the rules,” added Malcolm.

Guinness Street Football is a form of Futsal played by four-man teams on an outdoor surface such as a parking lot or basketball court. The competition gives teams a chance to compete for a share of $3.5 million in cash and prizes, and prove their skill.

“Our reason for doing GSFC was to unearth ‘Made of More’ talent in Jamaica and to take our most skilled players to a regional platform,” explained Imru James, brand manager for Stouts and Malta at Red Stripe.

Now under the watchful eye of JFF scouts, GSFC has also opened the door for many players who may be looking to advance to the national level. “When a corporate company like Guinness comes on board, it makes a whole world of difference to the development of futsal in the country,” said Malcolm.

The JFF made a huge step in introducing futsal to Jamaica when it held its first five-day, FIFA coaching course in 2015. The Jamaican futsal squad, coached by former Reggae Boyz football star Theodore Whitmore, made a historic bid in January to appear in a Futsal World Cup with the inaugural Caribbean Football Union (Championship in Havana, Cuba.