Time and again, this newspaper has found reason to stress the importance of getting Jamaican sport to the stage where it is truly professional.

In today’s world, it is increasingly true that the value of amateurism in sport is restricted to recreation and healthy lifestyle. For excellence in sport, a professional setup is required.

We believe, for example, that the giant strides on the world stage by Jamaican athletes over the last 10 to 15 years have much to do with the formation of professional track clubs.

On the other hand, we contend that the desperate state of West Indies cricket — notwithstanding men and women’s World T20 titles this year — as well as the recent disappointing exit of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz at the semi-final stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers are linked to the failure so far to shake amateurism.

In football, Jamaica’s top clubs are at best semi-pro. It means that, at the club level, development and nurturing programmes for the very young are severely underfunded and very basic. Academy programmes at that level lack substance.

So it is then, that as it has been for in excess of 100 years, Jamaica’s football is heavily dependent on necessarily amateur schoolboy competitions to nurture and bring forth talent. From a purely football development perspective, the situation is far from ideal, not least because the season has to be over and done with in three months —by early December. But that’s the reality. Jamaica’s football must make the best of what it has.

Even as they dream of a time when well-funded and organised football academies will be the order of the day, clubs and national age-group coaches must keep a keen eye on the schoolboy season which starts today with close to 130 teams participating in the urban Manning Cup and all-rural daCosta Cup.

Thankfully, Under-19 schoolboy football – which like other schools’ sport is run by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) — is immensely popular and relatively well funded. We are told that the sponsorship deal with telecoms giant

Flow

is worth $150 million over five years.

As the season opens, the hope and expectation must be that coaches and school leaders will recognise their responsibility not just to try to win, but to teach best practices to their young charges. We are aware that schoolboy football coaches are now mostly, if not all, certified. It’s crucial that coaches’ knowledge and methods are reflected in technical, tactical and attitudinal approach on the field for the greater good of the individual player, his team, and ultimately for Jamaica’s football.

Again, as we keep saying in this space, it is extremely important that organisers ensure decent surfaces allowing not just for a reasonable standard of play, but which will, as much as possible, minimise injuries.

Also, it must not be forgotten that though we speak of its place in the development of the national game, schoolboy football is essentially a school activity. Even as all concerned aim for the utmost efficiency, they must be aware that good behaviour, sportsmanship and decorum should not be compromised for any reason.

We wish all stakeholders the very best.