Despite criticisms of its quality in the past, Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) believes the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) has become the best competition in the region.

The PFJL is in its fifth season as the league’s oversight body, having taken over from the now defunct Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA).

Since 2021, there has been three different champions of the JPL with Cavalier winning twice, including last season. The league has also expanded to 14 teams, up from the traditional 12 and five teams competing in the Concacaf Champions Cup with Cavalier making back-to-back finals and winning the title earlier this month.

The quality of the league has received flak over the years but Hill believes the recent achievements are signs of growth and says the standard will continue to rise in the future.

“Definitely it’s the best in the region. I can say that hands down, Jamaica Premier League is the best in the region,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“I’ll say that we’re improving, there’s no way anybody can say it’s a bush league unless you’re overly critical. The truth is: are we at the level we want to be? No, because our target keeps moving. We want to get it better, we want good surfaces, we want players’ technical abilities to exponentially improve and as a result, we’ll have a better league that you can consume whether coming into actual facilities watching from the stands or watching it from television.”

Hill, who took over as CEO in 2022, says the PFJL has been making greater efforts in ensuring players and coaches reach their full potential.

“The technical abilities are improving, and it starts from implementing the strategy so for us to get technically better players, you need technically better coaches, you need better surfaces, you need better facilities. As you look, we’re putting that work; the Wray & Nephew School of Football is existing for the improvement of local coaches so all the coaches should be at a minimum standard once they’re in the Premier League and we keep moving that standard up so the quality is improving,” he said.

“The playbook that each club will have will obviously be different but the players are working from that kind of strategy, we’re very clear on what is at the end of it too, so we keep showing them how to move players, we’re linking with scouts and agent groups and we want them to get into the national team so they’re exposure can become greater and then we keep learning from our international counterparts so Concacaf keeps feeding us information through the JFF.”

Hill says they have also been putting more focus on youth football, including the Malta Under-17 Development Programme which took place last summer. He believes initiatives like these will improve the quality of the league and football locally.

“It’s extremely important that we look downwards. We know that for the seniors to be good, the grassroots must be strong. The pilot programme we launched was really just to show the market that if we put systems in place then chances are we’ll get good outcomes at the end of it,” said Hill.

“Albeit, we had a small group of teams that participated but it was a holistic development programme. It wasn’t just about the competition side of it, we wanted to ensure that they started understanding the psychosocial elements, the nutritional elements and so on because all these youngsters want to be professional footballers at some point or being within the overall [football] ecosystem.”

The 2024/25 season of the JPL, which was expanded to 39 games from its previous 26, is currently in its second round with the play-offs set to kick-off in April.

Montego Bay United’s Romario Smith (left) is double teamed by Portmore United’s Tarick Ximines (centre) and Akeem Mullings during the Jamaica Premier League match at Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James on October 27, 2024.Photo: Paul Reid

HILL… I can say that hands down, Jamaica Premier League is the best in the region

Waterhouse FC striker Andre Fletcher celebrates after scoring during his team’s 3-2 win over Dunbeholden in the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League match at Stadium East on Sunday, December 8, 2024.Photo: Naphtali Junior

Gadail Irving (left) of Mount Pleasant FA and Deandre Cunningham of Arnett Gardens FC battle for possession of the football during the Jamaica Premier League match at Sabina Park in August 2024.Photo: Naphtali Junior