The FIFA Women’s World Cup at which Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz made history by becoming the first national football team to reach the second round of a World Cup tournament ended early Sunday (Jamaica time) with stylish Spain beating England in the final.

That’s likely to mean more sleep for sports-loving Jamaicans over the next few days, although they will still be closely following our track and field stars at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The expectation is that one or more of our women sprinters will be on the medal podium after today’s happenings — possibly boasting gold.

At another level, we feel it timely to briefly explore the business of sport.

Often, as Jamaicans watch their sporting heroes excel in whichever sporting discipline, there is the nagging thought that economic benefits for individual competitors, communities, clubs and country aren’t as should be.

For that reason, news that a leading local footballer, 23-year-old Mount Pleasant striker Mr Trivante Stewart is to represent Italian Serie A club US Salernitana 1919 comes like a breath of fresh air.

We are told that Mr Stewart is the first Jamaica Premier League (JPL) player to sign for a top-flight Italian football club. This follows an excellent 2022-23 season when he was the second-highest scorer with 18 goals, helping Mount Pleasant to the JPL title.

The financial terms were not announced, but we note the claim that the transfer of Mr Stewart is the most significant for Jamaica’s Premier League since that of Mr Ricardo “Bibi” Gardner from Harbour FC to English club Bolton Wanderers in 1998.

Of course, there have been many a move for highly rated Jamaican footballers to overseas clubs since the Reggae Boyz famously qualified for a FIFA World Cup in 98.

Only Sunday one of Jamaica’s more respected home-grown talents, Mr Leon Bailey, played a starring role as his club Aston Villa defeated Everton 4-0 in the highly prestigious English Premier League.

Our women footballers have also benefited professionally from their exploits with the national team, with more such contractual benefits expected following their recent achievements at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The ownership of Mount Pleasant which has invested heavily and with admirable commitment in an academy programme at the club’s base in St Ann deserves the highest praise for the efforts leading to the latest player transfer.

We note also that the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) says Mr Stewart’s move is a validation of business initiatives including broadcasting/streaming.

Football and athletics apart, other Jamaican sportsmen and women, including cricketers, have earned significantly from playing on the overseas circuit.

It’s easy to conclude that much more could be achieved if what is described by the PFJL as an ecosystem for professional sport could be developed in a far more comprehensive fashion than is now the case.

That, we believe, should involve focused investment by Government and private sector partners on infrastructure and support systems/staff to encourage participation in sport from the grass roots upwards.

Let’s imagine the benefits that would come if there is greater effort to improve the surfaces on which our children and young people play sport.