A local football administrator is questioning the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association’s (KSAFA) motives because of a press release it published earlier this week about the mandate for licensing of football academies within its region.

KSAFA said in this release that it is alarmed by what it describes as “the mushrooming of non-affiliated entities claiming to be football academies”.

The statement says that all academies operating in Kingston and St Andrew are required to be licensed by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) through KSAFA.

It says all applicants must undergo a vetting process that requires personnel to have a clean police record and attend mandatory safeguarding seminars. These requirements, it says, are similar to those for youth coaches at KSAFA-based clubs.

“The measures highlighted here were put in place to safeguard children in the sport and to ensure the integrity of our competitions along with maintaining orderly developmental activities,” KSAFA said. “Therefore, it is incumbent on all including parents, officials, and potential sponsors to understand the ramifications of not ensuring that these entities are operating legitimately.”

Gregory Jones, a youth football tournament organiser at ProNation Sports and coach of Emmanuel Christian Academy, says KSAFA should have had a discussion with the academies across Kingston and St Andrew before drafting the document.

Jones’ contention also lies in what he says is KSAFA not being transparent about the framework regarding what defines an academy and what one wanting to establish one must do to get it regulated.

“The question is asked — where is that document that gives the guideline as to an academy to set up shop in Jamaica? I just saw that document today,” Jones said to the Jamaica Observer on Monday. “Where was it two, three years ago when we were asking for it? That regulatory framework was never presented to us until today. It wasn’t sent by KSAFA. Somebody else sent it to me to peruse.”

This document, a 28-page outline drafted by the JFF, explains the criteria for the formation of an academy. It speaks to the application process, the presentation of mandatory financial audits, training and match facilities, age group structures, a requirement to compete in futsal (a condensed version of the game with fewer players on a smaller field), duration and frequency of training activities, personnel, and their responsibilities, coach to player ratios, and who academies are allowed to partner with (football clubs, and preparatory and primary schools).

Although the JFF framework says academies can be aligned with clubs, many of those operating in KSAFA’s jurisdiction are associated with schools rather than clubs. Jones would like to see more partnerships with clubs, especially as academies are not recognised by FIFA, the global governing body, while clubs are through affiliation with parish associations (in this case, KSAFA), who operate under the JFF.

But Jones does not see any change coming.

“The academies do pose a threat to the clubs,” he said. “They’re more structured, there’s more money running through the academies and they’re building their infrastructure. This is a KSAFA issue before it becomes a national issue and the only club in KSAFA that really invests or has a structured grass-roots programme is Harbour View. None of the other clubs have that, so the academies fill the void.”

KSAFA President Mark Bennett denies this, saying that the only concern the body has is that there needs to be a closer watch over who is allowed to operate an academy, especially as they are working with children.

“There are academies that are aligned to football clubs in KSAFA, but what we have now is other persons popping up left, right, and centre, setting up shop and calling themselves academies,” Bennett told the Observer. “Some of these persons, we are not aware of. We don’t know if they are able to pass a ‘fit and proper’ test. These are issues that we have to get out there.”

While Bennett says academies and KSAFA’s clubs can coexist, Meadforest FC President Dalgalish Henry confirms Jones’ belief that clubs feel threatened by academies. Henry says academies are marginalising clubs by drawing from the same pool of players.

“The academies are really having somewhat of a free ride,” he told the Observer. “For you to have a franchise in Kingston and St Andrew, you have to play four competitions — senior, junior, under-15s, and under-13s. You have to have your structure totally in place to participate in football.

“The academies’ concept is not bad. It gets the support of parents and prep schools but it’s a fad that is taking over Kingston and St Andrew. It has no real depth.

“The objective of the academy seems to be how much money they can make out of it in the short run. They will get support because their programme is underpinned by foreign tours. But you ask yourself when they tour, who do they play? My research says when they go abroad, they don’t really play anybody, it’s not any real competition, just a plane ride. We have to take hold of it.”

Henry has always been critical of Bennett’s administration, especially after Meadforest was suspended indefinitely earlier this year for going again KSAFA’s wishes to play the JFF’s Tier 2 League. He says KSAFA must step forward and take control.

“KSAFA is being held hostage by a little group that’s looking at short-term fund-raising rather than the development of football in the true sense,” he said. “They’re just playing on turf and charging big money. The academies pay big entry fees while the clubs, being part of the organisation, are left behind.

“You’re in a community, you get near to your nearest community club. They have a role to play, and I like the concept, but if it’s a rivalry to clubs, we’re looking at a defeating scenario.”

Jones is aware of the limitations experienced by clubs but says instead of seeing academies as a threat, clubs should look to them to fill the gaps in resources, especially as it relates to competition inactivity. This has been a problem KSAFA has had for numerous years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, where it struggled to find sponsors for youth tournaments and sometimes had to postpone their staging.

“The academies are doing a fantastic job of educating on the basics of the game, where the clubs aren’t structured to,” Jones said. “They don’t have the resources or the money and they don’t invest in that aspect of football development.

“Because there are so many kids running through the programme, by the time they reach 13 years old, they want to stay with their academies. Why? They have structured training sessions several times a week, more balls at training, more equipment, the coaches — most of them are qualified and are paid, hence you get better quality. A lot of clubs are no longer reaping the players that they used to from the preparatory and primary schools for the 13 and 15 age brackets.”

But Henry is sceptical about whether every child can benefit from an academy although he believes common ground could be found where clubs and academies work together if the structure that exists now changes.

“It targets the affluent who can pay the $1,500 or $2,000 per session, while the inner city, where the real talent is, is being left behind and marginalised,” Henry said. “In the long run, the development will be hampered.”

KSAFA will, however, meet with academies across Kingston and St Andrew on Thursday to hear their concerns arising from the press release.

Jones says he will attend but is sceptical about a fruitful outcome.