To be honest Jamaica doesn't have much of a world renowned football program. We dont have the football heritage of countries like Brazil, Argentina, England etc., and the first (and last) time we managed to qualify for a World cup was nearly a decade ago. Even though it seemed like since then we have produced a fairly high caliber set of footballers individually, we still have not managed to truly field a top class football team. However I would guess that this is truly about to change, as Spanish giants Valencia FC is set to partner with the JFF to use Jamaica as a source of talent in its teams.

For those readers who are not in the know about who this Valencia FC is, its a Spanish Premier League (La Liga) Football club. However just because it is not named Barcelona or Real Madrid doesn't in anyway mean that this club is a lesser club, no instead think of Valencia as one of the biggest football clubs in Spain. So big in fact that they have been consistently placing in the top 10 in La Liga since the year 2000, and has even won the league 6 times, most recently being the 2001-2002, and 2003-2004 seasons, and has also taken up the Copa Del Rey in the 2007-2008 season as well. They have never taken the UEFA champions league trophy but they have gone so far as to reach the finals as recently as 2001. So in essence you can see that this is definitely a major opportunity for Jamaican football.

One may ask what exactly this deal entails, the answer is that Jamaican football, meaning the entire Digicel Premier league and all the super leagues, the manning cup and even the minor leagues will now act as a feeding ground for Valencia FC. Not just in the sense of footballers though, there will also be coaches who will benefit from this move. To quote the article:

"Valencia is developing an academy because of the economic problem in Europe, so Valencia is using Jamaica as a feeding programme," he explained. Burrell chipped in: "We spoke about that in length. Once the talent is found here they would do everything to have that person in Valencia." The youth training camp will begin this Saturday with five Spanish coaches conducting procedures alongside Jamaica's Andre Virtue at Sabina Park. Approximately 100 Jamaican youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18, and 50 local coaches, will get an opportunity at the Next Generation Pro Baller Camp. Once that is finished on Thursday, three players will be identified and will earn the chance to attend a club camp with Valencia from June 27 to July 3.

So in the end, what effects can we expect from this partnership?

1) More Professional level footballers - Jamaica has good footballers but they rarely show the class and dedication that professional footballers have to show. A move like this will expose Jamaicans to the international standards require to become better football players.

2) More Professional level coaches - We have constantly seen the need for coaches who are professionally trained and able to perform in a multitude of situations with a multitude of solutions. This will aid us in getting there

3) More exposure - As Jamaican football continues to rise to higher heights, it would be better for us as a country if we gain an avenue to show off our talent. Our local premier league does not gain the levels of exposure that La Liga gets and this can only mean that more and more people will begin to come to Jamaica in search of talent.

4) World cup 2014? 2018? - Ok this one may not actually work out, but it is a good thought.

The article even quoted the possibility of a Jamaica vs Spain match... which would probably end up with Jamaica getting the beating of a lifetime, but would still help us gain exposure.

All in all though this is an excellent move for Jamaica football and as long as we continue to form partnerships as this, our sports culture will continue to grow with the talent that we have available.