The National High School under 14 and under 16 championships kick off this week, joined by the historic first season of girls rugby league.
In a first for rugby league in Jamaica, the girls tournament will be played under modified rules by three school, Ascot High, The Cedar Grove academy and Waterford High.
In another boost for the schools league, an innovative partnership has been struck with Australian charity ‘Dev Inno’ who have agreed to support the tournament and to provide education courses for young entrepreneurs.
The tournament kicks off on January 15th, with Calabar taking on Spanish Town high in what is expected to set the tone for a competitive and entertaining season.
Eight schools will compete in the Under 14 season, and ten in the Under 16 tournament in a record year of growth.
The season will culminate with Grand Finals day on March 20th.
Rugby League Jamaica Director of football Romeo Monteith said;
“We have another fantastic year of High School Rugby League planned, and the launch of our girls tournament is an important milestone in the growth of our game.
We hope that this is the first step to our Jamaican women joining our men in future Rugby League World cup tournaments beyond our debut appearance in 2021.
We welcome Dev Inno as our first major tournament partner for the high school tournaments, and their vision for social improvement through sport matches perfectly with ours at Rugby League Jamaica.”
You can find out more about the great work that Dev Inno do by visiting www.devinno.org