The Portland Football Association (PFA) is celebrating a new strategic alliance with a corporate company, as it continues to build out its sponsorship and development portfolio.

In an economic environment where corporate response to sports sponsorship is slow in coming, the football association was able to land a deal with 876 Blue Mountain Spring Water, a subsidiary of local consumer goods and services giant, the GraceKennedy (GK) Group.

The partnership, which will run for one year initially, is ground-breaking for the PFA in that previously it ran its competitions without an official hydration sponsor.

According to president of the association, Raymond Grant, the package involves the supply of the locally bottled liquid for all competitions, starting with Under-15 and all the way through to the senior Major League. Also, the deal covers the provision of 876 spring water for workshops, other association functions, and during the preparation of teams.

“First of all I must commend Pettrine Harris and her marketing team from 876 spring water and the GraceKennedy Group for accepting our proposal to partner with the Portland Football Association to be the official water sponsor.

“We are aware that sponsorship dollars are hard to come by, but our approach to 876 spring water was against the backdrop of Western Union having the long-standing partnership with football in the parish. In fact, our partnership with Western Union has gone 25 years unbroken and, based on the long-standing relationship, we thought that it would be easier to approach 876 spring water,” said Grant, giving a background to the deal.

Western Union is also a member of the GraceKennedy Group.

“The truth is there was no sponsorship for hydration in the parish before; what obtained before is that teams would fill bags with water, and even in some cases teams would turn up for games with no water at all — and it goes to show the level of importance the Portland FA puts on this hydration deal,” he added.

Though figures were not readily available yesterday, there is also a cash portion in addition to the water supply that is expected to chip in later during the course of the deal, which officially kicked in this month.

Grant, a former general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation, said member clubs, which had to be largely hydrating players out of pocket, were particularly delighted with the new deal.

“The clubs were very excited about the proposal and when we advised them that we were successful in getting that arrangement for them, they were excited. The arrangement is in progress and we are awaiting the next 12 months of success,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Meanwhile, GK Foods and Beverages Brand Manager Pettrine Harris was delighted her company was able get more involved in the life of the parish, the home of “876” Spring Water that flows from Portland’s iconic Blue Mountain.

“Portland being the home of 876 spring water was important for us, to ensure we support the parish through various outreach and partnership initiatives that will aid in the development of the citizens. With football being a major part of the community we saw this as the perfect fit for the brand, being that rehydration would be critical for the success of the game,” she said.

Harris noted that 876 spring water separates itself from other brands, in a flooded bottled water marketplace.

876 spring water is uniquely Jamaican and certified by the International Bottled Water Association and is a cut above the rest. 876 spring water represents Jamaica and who we are as a people and we bring the best-quality spring water to our consumers at a really affordable price,” Harris said.

She said after the current one-year arrangement, the window for expansion will remain open.

“We hope to partner with the PFA for years to come, and the goal is to have a team from Portland in the National Premier League soon,” noted Harris.

The relatively new brand, according to the brand manager, “has, over the years, partnered with ISSA for the GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships”.

— Sean Williams