PFJL praises FIFA, JFF club-development workshop
Published:Wednesday | October 15, 2025 | 12:09 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
OWEN HILL, CEO of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), has praised the recent two-day Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and FIFA Club Management Professional Development Workshop as a major step forward for Jamaican clubs.
Hill was speaking at the workshop’s closing ceremony at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Monday.
The workshop saw all 14 Jamaica Premier League (JPL) clubs represented and taking part in the activities.
Hill said the workshop came to be after consistent dialogue among the PFJL, the JFF, and FIFA.
“It’s a culmination of a series of consultations,” he explained. “We knew that the clubs needed professional-development exposure off the pitch, and the conversation started with us speaking to the JFF and the JFF, having access to FIFA, requested it.”
He continued: “I think the clubs are receiving it well. It was a two-day workshop, and for the two days, we had full participation from all the clubs.”
Hill explained that the workshop has stressed the importance of having the right structures in place at a professional club.
It also provided a space where football administrators could share their knowledge and expertise.
“Having workshops like these and exposing the administrative talent to sessions like these from the highest level, it validates what we’re doing,” Hill said.
“It provides us with an opportunity to knowledge share, to learn what is happening, what the best practices are, and to implement what we’ve learned back in our club so that we can be better.
“It’s important for us to have these linkages and that we continue to do that so the clubs themselves can be better off, and then by extension, the football ecosystem,” he continued.
Hill said the workshop was a major step towards club development across the island and has educated Jamaican clubs on what it means to operate at the global professional standard.
Hill, once again, reiterated his belief that the JPL stands as the top league across the Caribbean, a spot they will continue to hold as clubs continue to develop and improve their operations.
“It’s massive for us, and we want to be that model country in the Caribbean,” he said.
“We are still at that top level when it comes down to club development in the region, but we want to make sure that we are competing at a global level.
“We take what we do at the JPL very seriously. It’s the professional league in our country, and that simply means ensuring that you are well equipped at every level.”
Hill also explained that the workshop aligned with the PFJL’s mandate of growing the sport in the island.
“It’s a holistic kind of development process. The mandate has always been, how do we grow clubs, not just in a tactical way, but, you know, strategically?
“The PFJL has a massive role to play in it. We are that bridge between the federation and the actual operations of the club,” he continued.
“Our role is to ensure that we continue these conversations, have these quarterly checkups, ensure that the monitoring and the reporting is being done, that the plans that are crafted by the clubs are put in place, and that we’re seeing growth.”