Scotiabank Kids Football Championship kicks off this weekend

(Kingston, Jamaica) May 1, 2025 - Starting this weekend, 480 boys and girls from 60 primary and preparatory schools across the island will participate in a Scotiabank Under-11, mixed 5-a-side football competition. The Scotiabank Kids Football Championship is set to run for four consecutive weekends with an all-Island champion being crowned on May 25.

Since 2014, Scotiabank has been using football to teach young people across Latin America the value of teamwork, learning, growth and respect for all.
This weekend’s tournament signifies the first time the competition is being held in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Participating teams will be provided with gear by Scotiabank while they play, learn and grow.

The competition will begin on Saturday May 3 at Manchester High with 18 schools from Middlesex and will continue at Westpow Park on May 10 and 11 with the 18 entrants from the county of Cornwall. The tournament will then move to Kingston for the third set of regional matches at the University of the West Indies (UWI) on May 17 and 18 where 24 schools from the county of Surrey will compete.

The three regional champions, and an overall fair play winner will participate in the semifinals and finals at UWI on the final weekend on 24th and 25th of May. The fair play award will be presented to the team that exemplifies the tenets of true sportsmanship on and off the field.

The Scotiabank Kiddie Football Championship also includes a one-day workshop for players where they will gain financial literacy skills through the League of Life programme. Not dissimilar to the board game Monopoly, The League of Life teaches money management essentials such as saving, investing and budgeting.

“This programme is about more than football,” said Yanique Forbes Patrick, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at Scotiabank. “It’s about giving young boys and girls across Jamaica an opportunity to develop life skills that will serve them well into adulthood. We believe that youth sports, especially team sports, teach many valuable skills that aren’t always learned in a classroom and we are enhancing that by supplementing this competition with key financial literacy education fundamentals that will be equip them for the future.”

The Jamaica Football Federation has also endorsed the initiative, noting its alignment with national youth development goals. “We are proud to support the Scotiabank Under-11 tournament. Programmes like this that combine football with education are essential in nurturing not only young athletes, but well-rounded citizens,” said Michael Ricketts, President of the Jamaica Football Federation. “We applaud Scotiabank for their continued investment in the grassroots of Jamaican football.”