EMMANUEL Christian Academy (ECA) and Corinaldi Avenue Primary will meet in today’s final of the Junior Cup All-Island Under-11 tournament at the Constant Spring Sports Complex, starting at 2:00 pm.

The final will be preceded by the third-place play-off game between Rousseau Primary from Kingston and Bethel Primary from Hanover, at 1:00 pm.

Today’s final promises to be a very exciting encounter as both teams are evenly matched in all departments. ECA won the urban area title after defeating Rousseau 4-0 in the final.

Corinaldi were crowned rural area champions after beating Bethel 1-0 in the final.

Paula Pinnock, chief organiser of the championships, says he is expecting a pulsating final because these are two of the best Under-11 teams in Jamaica.

“We are very excited about the final because these are two very strong teams. One in particular, Corinaldi, has a young female player that is unbelievably outstanding and so we could not have asked for a better final,” said Pinnock.

“We will see the best of the urban and best of the rural compete for cash prizes — and I know that everyone is looking forward to an exciting final,” she said.

Twenty-four schools from the urban area competed in the tournament while 12 teams from the rural area participated in the championships.

Pinnock shared that she has received a lot of positive feedback from people about this year’s championships because it forms a massive part of the development of youth football in Jamaica.

“We have had hundreds of students participating from schools all over the island and we were able to host a one-day tournament in Montego Bay and two-day tournament in Kingston, and now we are on to the final,” she disclosed.

“We are happy with the response that we got from this championship. We started out with the Under-11 tournament because we figure that there is a need for football to be played at the junior level — and that is the mission of the youth football league,” Pinnock said.

“We want to create more opportunities for playing at the primary and prep school level and so the Junior Cup is our flagship tournament,” she stated.

The winners of the tournament will receive $150,000, the second-place team will take home $75,000, while the third-place side will collect $25,000.