LIME pumps $60m into Insports primary league

Telecommunications giants LIME announced a three-year sponsorship package valued at $60 million, to become title sponsors of the LIME/Insports Primary Schools Football League.

The league will bring together teams from more than 200 primary schools to compete for a national championship.

The tournament, which will be run over six months, will involve a preliminary round-robin phase, followed by a knockout round of 16, with the top team from each parish, Portmore and a lucky team that wins a wild-card draw.

The competition will follow the Jamaica Football Federation-approved FIFA grass-roots format, which allows for full gender participation, unlimited substitutions, smaller playing fields, smaller goals and teams of nine players.

Excited sponsor

"LIME is particularly excited about this sponsorship because football continues to be the most popular sport on the planet, and what better way to ensure the development of Jamaican football than to invest in the training and development of our youngest players," said LIME Jamaica Chairman Chris Dehring at Thursday's launch, which was held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.

He added: "This $60 million investment is also indicative of our belief in the power of sports to drive the personal develop-ment of our country's young people, to promote unity among our citizens and also to ignite our passion and pride in being Jamaican."

LIME's $60 million allocation will finance the procurement of football gear for participating teams and equipment for the match venues, including the fabrication of smaller goalposts, which are now the standard for all Under-13 football games.

Development programme

The telecoms company will also be funding a technical development programme for the young players and offsetting match and referees' fees, venue preparation as well as other administrative costs.

With more than 200 schools slated to participate, the LIME/Insports primary league will be one of the biggest age-group sporting competitions in the Caribbean.

"By creating this league, we are providing excellent oppor-tunities for young players with promise and potential to be identified at an early age and groomed for the national programme; so LIME is proud to throw its support behind our future Reggae Boyz and Reggae Girlz," Dehring said.