The second staging of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF)/SportsMax Elite football Under-18 league will kick off this Saturday with eight additional venues, as teams battle for more than $1m in cash and prizes.

The launch was made at the JFF office yesterday, where it was also revealed that a team of La Liga youth coaches would conduct coaching clinics with the winning teams of 2017 and this year, which will also include the top two footballers nominated from the other teams.

SportsMax head of marketing Tanya Lee said her company was pleased with what transpired last year hence their continuation of the competition.

“ SportsMax is encouraged by the first season and pleased to once again partner with the JFF for a second season as we execute what is now Jamaica’s premier youth football competition spanning from Negril to Morant Point highlighting the length and breadth of our footballing talent across our beautiful island,” said Lee.

“We believed that in asking parish association to look across the expansive youth football landscape and amass only 325 of the best players, it augurs well for Elite League to become the marquee youth football competition on Jamaica’s annual calendar,” she continued.

Thirteen parish teams will vie for the winning prize of $500,000 with the runners-up collecting $200,000, and $100,000 each to the losing semi-finalists.

Defending champions Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) All Stars, St Catherine Saints, Portland Blazers, St Ann Giants, St Thomas Cobras and St Mary Raiders are in the East Zone.

The West Zone comprises St Elizabeth Tigers, Clarendon Galaxy, Trelawny Barons, Hanover Patriots, Westmoreland Warriors, Manchester Lions and St James United.

There will be eight additional venues and they have been strategically hand-picked to host the games across the island in the Spanish Town Prison Oval (St Catherine); St Mary Complex (St Mary); York Complex (St Thomas); Barbican Complex (St Andrew); Elletson Wakeland Centre (Trelawny); Brooks Park (Manchester), Ruseas’s High School (Hanover) and Jarrett Park (St James).

There has also been a change in the format, which will see cross-zone matches for the first time. Previously, the top two teams from each zone did not meet until the final.

The competition will be broadcast live on SportsMax on Saturdays, while Digicel will broadcast the matches live on mobile devices across the Caribbean via the PlayGo app.

Meanwhile, JFF president Michael Ricketts said he was excited about this competition, as it was very important to the development of football in the island.

“We at JFF are putting a lot of emphasis on youth programmes, and I say thanks to SportsMax and Digicel and other sponsors for supporting and investing in this type of competition. I always thought that after school we would have lost a number of our real talented players because they are not geographically positioned to get into a Premier League outfit and get lost,” said Ricketts.

“This competition will identify these youngsters, harness these talents and get them into a national competition where the passion will move from schoolboy to the parish competition,” he added.

Defending champions KSAFA All- Stars will open against St Catherine Saints on Saturday at 3:45 pm inside the Spanish Town Prison Oval. There will be a double-header at Drax Hall with Portland Blazers tackling St Thomas Cobras at 1:45 pm before St Ann Giants play St Mary Raiders at 4:45 pm.

There will also be a double-header at Elletson Wakeland Centre in Trelawny, as St Elizabeth Tiger take on Hanover Patriots at 1:45 and Trelawny Baron versus Manchester Lions at 4:45. Last season’s runner-up Clarendon Galaxy will play Westmoreland Warriors at Juici Park in Clarendon at 3:45 pm.