St James football to go live, McNeil wants maximum exposure

Interim President of the St James Football Association (StJFA) Gavin McNeil says increasing the prominence of football in the parish is high on his agenda, with plans to stream most of the association’s matches live or via rebroadcast.

McNeil took over from Gregory Daley, who was appointed general secretary for the Jamaica Football Federation in January.

“My vision is to expand the reach of the clubs, and I’m going to do this by implementing an initiative where we will be streaming most of our games live or via rebroadcasting,” said McNeil.

“We are taking it one step at a time. It’s about giving players more visibility so they can build their individual fan base and their club fan base,” added McNeil.

When McNeil first got involved in parish football administration many years ago, his goal was to one day be the president of the StJFA.

The Cornwall College old boy, after serving as administrator, treasurer, and vice-president in charge of competitions and regulations, has stepped into the role of interim president with a clear, people-focused vision to establish club and schoolboy football partnership programmes for the development of young talent.

“This year, we also want to put more emphasis on the clubs developing the youngsters instead of having the schools as the major development tool for them. Schoolboy football does take precedence in the parish, but you want the clubs to be the ones leading the way in the development of the kids. We want the clubs to partner with the schools and start the development process there,” said McNeil. “That will also help the clubs to have an early relationship with the youngsters.”

Beyond the standings and silverware, McNeil believes the real victory will be about creating more opportunities for young footballers in St James so they can be seen, supported, and celebrated.

“The players can also attract sponsorship for themselves because people will feel more connected to them via the social media streaming of the games. People locally or overseas can also see them play, and the clubs can highlight their talents. That is what I am bringing to the StJFA for this season,” said McNeil.

The Sandals StJFA Major League started a week ago with expectations that the league will showcase more quality and organisation, with 13 teams participating this season.

“We had 11 teams last season, but I expect the competitiveness to be heightened this season. Three newcomers are in the league. They include former Jamaica Premier League (JPL) team Faulkland FC (2022-23 JPL season) so you can see that more quality will be there.

“The other two newcomers are MBU Youths and MoBay City FC led by former Montego Bay United (MBU) owner Orville Powell, so we expect great things this year,” McNeil added.