IAN ALLEN/STAFF   PHOTOGRAPHER

Paul-Andre Walker

Gleaner - Staff Reporter

PREMIDICTOR. A strange name, isn’t it? Well, it’s not so strange these days as hundreds if not thousands of internet surfers are beginning to find out.

What does surfing the internet have to do with sports in Jamaica is the next question you might ask? Michael Blair, one of the competitions co-ordinators at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the Kingston and St.Andrew Football Association (KSAFA), has been developing a website named Premidictor that caters to the needs of those Jamaicans and overseas sports enthusiasts who have a love for statistics. 

Initially, the website was set up as a means of getting those aging, former sportsmen into the competitive fan sport of the guessing game. Who could predict the results of all the games in the next Wray and Nephew National Premier League?  

 MORE SUPPORT

As the site got more support from parish associations and the JFF, and Blair’s research on the history of Jamaican football became more extensive, the focus began to shift.

“The more information that I put up about the premier league the more I noticed people began gravitating towards it. They became more interested in the information than playing the game,” Blair explained. 

Now, the site that Blair spends four to five hours working on every evening has all the information regarding football in Jamaica that any statistical buff can dream of. 

It has up-to-date standings on many of the leagues played all over the island and an in-depth history of Jamaica’s football at the World Cup and many other levels, dating as far back as 1925. And the work is ongoing. “All of this is research that I have done and it has taken me years,” said Blair. 

Log on to www.premidictor.net and you are in. Then get membership by applying for a password and username, all free of charge.

After that, the history and future of Jamaica’s football are at your fingertips. 

With no monetary gain, with the exception of sponsorship from anngel.com, another question pps up. What makes Michael Blair dedicate hours of his spare time and sometimes time he doesn’t have to build a world class site?

“I wanted to start this from 2002 but I didn’t have the time,” said Blair, reminiscing on a time when he worked at the Constant Spring Football Club.

FULL-TIME JOB

“Now that I have done it, it’s like another full time job. When I get to my bed before 1:00 a.m. it’s an early night,” said Blair. “I am not a pro. I am an amateur. I taught myself so it takes me some time,” he pointed out.

“It’s trial and error but I am not satisfied with the information that is provided in Jamaica when it comes to our football, so if I can make an impact then this is how I’m going to do it,” he added. 

The question of finances is another one. While anngel.com takes care of powering the site and standing the cost of running it, there is no means of earning money right now, but Blair thinks that is secondary to his goals, even though it is a possibility. 

“The sky is the limit, it never started out that way,” he said. Another burning question was whether or not the site would eventually gravitate to other sports. “You never know. Eventually this site could turn to other sports in Jamaica as well. I believe that things like this can shine a light on our football in

Jamaica, make it more viable internationally, simply by making information available. We need to find ways of increasing information in this country and Premidictor is the start of that,” Blair stated.

Blair ... “They became more interested in the information than playing the game.”