Among the many questions after Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz qualified for a second-straight Fifa World Cup Finals in July was how did it happen, given the absence of a local club league since before the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic?

The short answer, of course, was the talent and determination of young Jamaicans — born here and elsewhere — who play professionally abroad; coaches, support staff, helpful individuals and groups such as the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation and Ms Cedella Marley through her Football is Freedom initiative.

Inevitably, we have to ask how much more potent would Jamaica’s women’s football be, with a properly functioning domestic women’s league?

It’s against that backdrop that we welcome news of next month’s planned return of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Women’s Premier League competition — the first such since 2018.

“It is almost three years and we are really elated at this time that we will have the women’s league back up and running at the end of November,” Mr Rudolph Speid, chairman of the JFF’s Technical Committee, told our sports desk.

Mr Speid is reported as saying that the JFF has secured funding from global football’s governing body Fifa to assist in running the league which will involve 10 teams over six months.

According to him, clubs have been training and preparing for the return of the women’s league since April.

The planned return of senior women’s football follows that of the schoolgirls’ league earlier this year. There was a two-year break because of COVID-19.

The positive vibes in relation to women’s football are, in our view, in sync with word that the JFF is actively seeking to upgrade the business side of its operations.

We refer to reports that the JFF is seeking the services of chartered accountant and respected business executive Mr Dennis Chung as its new general secretary.

Readers will recall that the general secretary’s post has been vacant for months — a players’ protest having triggered the exit of Mr Dalton Wint. That’s a matter that we hear is still to be settled.

We don’t pretend to believe that a single individual can, on his own, change the culture of any organisation.

However, we think someone of Mr Chung’s stature can help to lift the credibility of the JFF because of his reputation as a high-achieving professional.

It’s no secret that the JFF has come under strong criticism down the years — more particularly in recent times — for perceived administrative inadequacies.

We agree with Mr Tony James, former president of the JFF, that the organisation “needs a competent administrator who will underpin and support a board [of directors]. The board makes directions and he just implements and carries out those directions with good governance principles…”

Ultimately, as we have often said in this space, football is big business and in Jamaica we need to treat it as such.

As far as we know, Mr Chung has not said he will take the job. However, we are keeping our fingers crossed for the greater good of Jamaica’s football.