JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts says having the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) for the second-straight year demonstrates its dedication to women’s football on the island. The competition was launched at JFF’s headquarters on Tuesday.

The league was inactive for three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic but made a return last year with nine teams participating.

The season, which kicks off on Saturday, could see an increase in teams to 11, with Arnett Gardens officially registered after being absent in 2023 while Waterhouse could also make a return as they await clearance from JFF’s Competitions Committee.

Ricketts is eager for the competition to start as he believes it will further grow the women’s game in Jamaica.

“When we got into office there was no women’s league, and we were intent on ensuring [we] would have gotten this restarted — and we did so,” he told the
Jamaica Observer. “Even throughout the pandemic it was a struggle, but we did it. It’s not by mistake [that] we would have qualified for two consecutive World Cups because we, of course, would have given a lot of service to women’s football.

“We have been always very cognisant of the fact that football must be a social tool, and we have always said that grass roots, talent identification, and the development of women’s football must positively affect the psyche of every single boy and girl that plays the sport of football. It’s incumbent on us to ensure we expose our young players so that when their opportunity comes [with the national team] they can grasp it with both hands.”

Sherwin Williams, which last sponsored the women’s league in 2015 after a close-to-two-decade association, returns as the major sponsor of the competition.

Along with the paint brand, JFF’s Women’s Committee Chairperson Elaine Walker-Brown also told the
Observer that world football’s governing body Fifa will be providing significant financial support to run the league.

“We are still in discussions with other sponsors but we also have support from Fifa, knowing that this is our premier women’s league,” she said. “That’s why we have to run for a certain period of time and have a certain amount of teams, because this is our top league in the country so we’ll get that support from Fifa.”

Regardless of the financial situation, Walker-Brown is expecting to see one of the best seasons of women’s football ever in Jamaica.

“I’m really happy,” she said. “I just want to see some quality games. And, based upon their approach this year, I expect a better season than last year. With the state of women’s football they have to understand that they’re the seniors and everyone is looking up to them so we’re looking for quality games, quality behaviour, and a quality display of football.”

The 10 confirmed teams participating in this season’s competition are defending champions Fraszier’s Whip, last season’s runners-up Cavalier, Arnett Gardens, Real Mobay, Springers, Royal Lakes, Mile Gully, Vere United, Rangers, and Proven Girls.

Although the league gets under way on Saturday a representative of the competitions committee confirmed to the
Jamaica Observer that the fixtures are still being determined and that the women’s cup competition is still being finalised.