Following the successful staging of the 2024 All-Star Football Tournament, several stakeholders involved are calling on the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to place greater focus on youth development.

The inaugural event took place at the Constant Spring playfield in Kingston on Sunday with the All-Star Prep School team beating the All-Star Primary team 1-0 and the Kingston Under-14 South team getting the better of the Under-14 North team 1-0.

Tournament Director Leighton Davis says the local football governing body needs to collaborate more with those involved in grass-roots football.

“I think what they need to do is have more townhall meetings with the different stakeholders from the different academies and schools in place,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“A lot of the boys that are playing are playing for different academies, so I believe that the JFF needs to look at meeting with these academies, sitting down with them, and [seeing] the money they get from FIFA or wherever can trickle down to improve the academies so they can improve their training methods, the different technologies that they are using, and so on, so the boys can become better. The end result is that the country is going to benefit so they need to play a greater role from that perspective,” Davis added.

After observing the impressive skills showcased, Liberty Prep School Coach Romaine Kennedy, who coached the All-Star Prep team, is suggesting that the JFF establish regular training camps for the young talents.

“I would recommend that they find a way to have camps for these boys, keep them together, while [they] keep searching for talents. Train them every month or two so we nurture them so they can blossom,” he said.

“These are an excellent crop of boys; I would love to see a way to keep them together. If we are able to do that as a nation, the future of our football programme will be out of this world. Not to mention even though we have these boys, there are many more talented boys that we might have missed. So, if we can keep this going, I assure you we’ll be looking good in the future,” Kennedy added.

Rousseau Primary School Coach Devon Smith, one of the coaches of the All-Star Primary team, urged the JFF to focus on the coaching aspect.

“Make coaching qualifications a bit easier for coaches at the lower level. A lot of the coaches at primary level don’t have the required coaching certificate to do the job as they ought to, so I think the JFF needs to come down, make it more affordable, make it easier for coaches to get qualified. When coaches are qualified, they will be better able to prepare the kids and put them on the path that they need to be,” said Smith.

Davis also believes the support of private sector is critical in furthering the growth of the sport.

“When you look at 88 boys playing, we had over 500 supporters who came out for the event, a ready audience that these products could be sold to and it was a hassle to get people on-board. I just believe that people need to meet us halfway and spend more money on youth development because, at the end of the day, the country is going to benefit, not just from a sporting perspective but also, these youth are going to become leaders for our country one day, so we need to invest in them,” he said.

“I believe very much in youth development and I think that these kids, apart from the sport itself, need an investment in them. If you treat people a certain way, they’ll act that way. These boys are all stars; they’re extremely talented and I wanted to create a platform where they can showcase their talent, but also building camaraderie among each other. I’m investing in the youth, and I believe in spending my money that way,” Davis added.

The All-Star Prep team consisted of players from the top teams in the Alberga Cup Under-12 competition, including champions Mona Prep with the All-Star Primary team being made up of the top teams from the primary competition including St Aloysius.

The All-Star North and South teams were made up players from the ISSA under-14 competitions, including champions Wolmer’s Boys’.