After introducing one of the first of its kind in Jamaica, chief executive officer (CEO) of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Owen Hill is urging the participating clubs in the Under-17 Development Programme to take it seriously.

The new youth football initiative, under title sponsors Malta, will run for the next three months to help develop grass-roots football on the island. Former Premier League champions Arnett Gardens FC, Waterhouse FC, Harbour View FC, and Portmore United were said to have been selected at random as the four clubs for the pilot programme.

Along with sessions to address technical abilities of players, player management, and club administration, the players will compete in one-day mini tournaments on May 25, June 29, and July 27 at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

Though wanting more clubs to be involved initially, Hill says it is incumbent on the current participants to put their best foot forward.

“Be very mindful that we’re starting and a lot of people are watching for the outcomes. Malta as a partner has come in big and want to show their brand value about community engagement and building, so this gives them the opportunity. We expect the teams that are participating to actually take it seriously. They are the standard-bearers of what the product will look like for the future. They have a heavy responsibility of making sure that they protect what is being built, and they are the benefactors as well. Hopefully they take it as seriously as we do at PFJL,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Hill says moving away from the traditional tournament style programme was key as they seek to nurture the all-round player and everyone involved in the sport.

“We need to develop the holistic individual, the eco-system, so those who are training the players, they need to be at a certain level. Those who are officiating need to be at a certain level, and the players as well. It’s not just on the field, it’s [also] off the field. It’s the technical development that is driven through psychological and social interactions and we were very deliberate about building and designing a programme like this to not focus only on competition but we’re trying to build the total athlete and by extension a stronger ecosystem, better coaches, better referees and better administrators will come out of this and ultimately, the players will be better,” said Hill.

Harbour View’s General Manager Clyde Jureidini says this will go a long way in improving his team’s youth players.

“Some of them have been training for five-and-a-half months from last year and wanted to play and couldn’t get to play, so as one of the four selected, we’re happy,” he said. “What PFJL and Malta are doing, not just on the field, but to prepare them to be adults and do things off the field to manage, protect and project themselves in social media and other environments is key to their personal development,” he said.