Football has long been one of the major sports, not only here in Jamaica, but internationally. It has a vast history of famous players and coaches, memorable matches and more profoundly the ability to captivate a viewing audience’s emotions and interests.

Football is more than just twenty-two players and a spherical ball. It has rapidly grown to become one of the world’s most well known sports, with the World Cup being dubbed by BBC Sports as the most watched event on planet earth. The ‘greatest show on earth’ is comparable only to the Olympics. This makes the sport very lucrative, as multi-billion dollar television contracts are offered to various football leagues given the world wide audience the media companies have to entertain.

With that being said, what importance can football serve to a nation? There are many positives one can identify in terms of the effect football can have. There are some negatives which include match fixing, violence among fans and scandals which have been highlighted in recent years. However, let us focus our attention on the positives, especially as it relates to national development in Jamaica.

From an economical stand point, football can be part of the answer to many nations’ economic and social problems. As said before, it is a very lucrative sport, one which, when marketed effectively, can earn great wealth for individuals and collective groups.

Take England for example, the creators of the game and the home to arguably the world’s most entertaining football league. In the four years from 2008 to 2012, the English FA (Football Association) was able to secure 425 million pounds in television rights from The Independent Television (ITV) and The Setana media companies for English and FA Cup matches. During this period they also obtained 145 million pounds in overseas television rights, giving proof of the world wide interest of individuals in the sport.

It is not only England that has obtained great financial benefits from the sport but also other countries have. This includes Spain, Italy and Germany who boast Spanish Primera Division, Serie A and Bundesliga competitions respectively.

Out of all these leagues however, it is England’s Barclay’s Premier League that rakes in the most revenue. In the 2013-14 season, it amassed revenue of more than 5 Billion pounds or 7,822,500,000 billion USD. In fact, it rakes in more revenue than some country’s GDP, countries which include Montenegro ($4.373 million USD) Guinea-Bissau ($822.3 million USD) and Kiribati ($175 million USD). However, it did not surpass Jamaica’s GDP which was 14.36 Billion USD within that time period.

For Jamaica, the country has a long way to go if wants to boast a league with anything near revenues like that. It firstly has to clean up its internal structure, the body that governs the football in Jamaica, The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). The management of the JFF needs to shift its focus to what is really important. The poor standard of most fields is almost embarrassing including that of the national stadium. The country’s national football league (Red Stripe Premier League) is not even fancied among the locals in comparison to the ISSA Schoolboy Football Competition which is more watched and is more hyped. This is partly due to the fact that the younger generation of players in the island is more determined to achieve success and is driven by the reward of having their name in the headlines.

It has often been said that when The United States sneezes Jamaica catches a cold. However, not in the case of football. America’s Major League Soccer has recently become one of the powerhouse leagues in the world attracting big name players like David Beckam, Andrea Pirlo, Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard. They have significantly invested in stadiums, teams and their youth. Yes, America has way more financial ability than tiny little Jamaica, but some patterns still can be followed and bettered if we invest right. Methods such as implementing a stabilized youth football system that will recruit interested youngsters who desire to play the sport professionally. Most clubs already have U-16’s and U-19’s but what happens after that? Most young footballers aren’t given the chance to play in the first team hence creating a gap that results in the young footballer having to pursue a career in another profession. We all know about Jamaica’s size and building five or six stadiums is somewhat impossible. However, The JFF can spend more money and focus on renovating the fields that we currently have as venues.

Besides from the financial benefits football can have, it can also help a nation’s youth, which is perhaps the most important part of any country. Football develops skills not only pertaining to the game but lifelong skills such as leadership and teamwork, which are very essential in the building of a good society. It teaches principles of hard work and dedication and creates a strategic mindset in how to deal with certain problems. Football is no longer a game where one just takes up a ball and creates two teams and plays. It has become very standardized and strategic and comes with a lot of pressure for anyone who experiences the professional side of it.  These conditions help to develop good character.

Football can also be a way out of poverty. Many inner city kids in Jamaica can be found playing in the streets or for local clubs or for their various schools. If they do well in any of these areas, the potential for them to be spotted by an overseas scout becomes possible and also a scholarship to a prestigious university abroad might be possible. Jamaica has a lot of examples of kids who dreamt about making it big in the sport but not having the possible resources to do so, names such as, Ricardo “Bibi” Gardener, Ricardo Fuller and Theodore Whitmore. They defied the odds and were signed by well known foreign clubs. More recent examples include Joel Cunningham (Wolmer’s Boys), Junior Flemmings (Jamaica College, formerly Tivoli Gardens) and Martin Davis (St. Georges College).

One can summarize that Jamaica has great potential in the area of Football but fails to harness it and without the right leadership in the Jamaica Football Federation the country cannot go forward in terms of football development and will default on all the benefits a country can reap from it. It is appalling that the government has here in football a tool that can help decrease our financial debt and increases our popularity and recognition worldwide and is not putting it to greater use. However, it must be pointed out that football in this Caribbean island continues to be a sport where members of a community come together and enjoy a match on the weekends, where schoolboys provide entertainment for their colleagues and other local residents and also where the sport itself brings people together when other prominent football leagues such as the BPL and LA Liga are showing. It is a sport that unites and enhances a nation, one which can help build the youths of our nation.