Improving The National Premier League

The question that pops up prior to the beginning of every National Premier League (NPL) season is, how can the NPL be improved? This answer to me has been staring the clubs and administrators in the face all along. There are simply two areas that can be improved, and those are, the quality of play, and the professionalism of the participating clubs. However, the perennial cry from the clubs and administrators is the lack of funds to do so.

I would like to look at both areas, beginning with the quality of play in the NPL. I have always advocated that too many clubs are in the NPL to make it competitive. The fact is we do not have the number of high quality players to sustain a twelve-team league. To my mind, a league comprising of ten teams would eventually offer spectators better quality football. A part of improving the quality of football also would be to impose a salary cap for players. What this would do is to let the so-called smaller clubs be competitive in the transfer market, especially the newly promoted clubs.

The second area focuses on the professionalism of the NPL clubs. This is an area that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has been trying to get the clubs to get in line with to no avail. The clubs are misguided in their approach to professionalism, by primarily attaching money to professionalism. Quite frankly money has nothing to do with professionalism. The running of a club in a professional manner involves more than money, and must start with that premise. The people elected or selected to be administrators and coaches of these clubs should first be trained for their particular role in the running of the clubs.

By simply improving in these two areas, the clubs and the NPL will experience better quality football, and a much better run league. The contribution of the clubs in these two areas is invaluable, and must now be paramount in the minds of the administrators of these clubs.

Finally, I would be naïve in thinking that improving in these two areas alone is the end all to the problems in the NPL. What I am suggesting, however, is that these two areas are where the changes should take place first.

Vin Blaine
 Premidictor Writer