Women’s football derserves more – Wint

General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Dalton Wint, says local female football deserves more support than what is currently being afforded to grow the game locally.

However, he insists that the JFF/National Women's Premier League, which returned last year after a one-year hiatus, will go ahead this year at the schedule time in July despite not attracting a title sponsor yet.

After the Reggae Girlz historic qualification to the Women's World Cup in France this summer, Wint says they were expecting a lot more support to come their way, but that has not been the case and he has called on the corporate community to play a greater role in the support and development of the women's game.

"We have not seen any commitment from any sponsor as it relates to women's premier league, but we are hopeful. We are still out there trying to find a title sponsor for the league. But we are yearning for support and the girls deserve to see a lot more support coming to them. Football does a lot for the human psyche, it assists financially for some persons, educationally and otherwise and we are hoping that corporate Jamaica can see it as their responsibility to support our ladies, as it does affect how the girls view the sport and the more support they get the more they will want to play a part," he commented.

Last season, Lascelles Employees and Partnership Credit Union assisted the JFF with the $12 million sponsorship of the league, with thoughts of being a future title sponsors. However, they have not indicated that they are ready to assume that role as title sponsor this season, Wint told STAR Sports.

"They (Lascelles Employees and Partnership Credit Union) are still there to give us some assistance, but in terms of being title sponsor no, we are not there. But one thing I can assure you is we will have the league. I don't know what format we will have, as that depends on the amount of money we can garner. But I know we will definitely have the league happening again this year," he continued.

He says local women's football has grown, but still has much more potential for growth and he says the federation is playing its part to develop the sport and keep the league alive.

"It (Women's League) has grown. There was a one-year hiatus, but the final at Waterhouse was something to behold, the turn out was good and we are hoping it will continue. With our imminent participation in the Women's World Cup we have definitely seen more interest in the sport and support for the sport. But the clubs want more support from the JFF in terms of financial support. Because there are some things in the league we want to look at. If we can get the girls playing more game that will be a plus and publicising the league is something we also want to look at," he added.