JWPL 2026 season goes live with cost-saving new format

The rebranded Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) is set to make a return for its second season with a new league format aimed at reducing transportation costs for its various clubs.

The JWPL held its media launch yesterday, with the league announcing its return as well as the new format.

This year’s staging will see the JWPL discard the traditional league structure used last year and will, instead, consist of two zones of six teams each.

The teams from each zone will play each other twice, and at the end of the regular season, the top two teams from each zone will advance to the semi-finals.

Christina Hudson, chairperson of the Professional Women’s Football Jamaica Limited (PWFJL), said the decision to change the league’s format was made by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Competitions Committee.

She said the rationale behind the change was to group teams based on their locations to reduce the cost of each team’s transportation during the season.

“The competitions part of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League is still primarily controlled by the JFF’s Competitions Committee, so PWFJL doesn’t have full autonomy over the football side of things with regard to the structure and the fixtures,” Hudson explained.

“We were notified that they were going to make the league into zone fixtures primarily to help the clubs with their transportation costs. Transportation cost was the single largest burden for our clubs last season, so by putting them into zones, we are trying to mitigate that cost to the clubs.”

Arnett Gardens, Cavalier, Proven Girls, Real Mona, UWI Women’s, and Wifi United have been placed in Zone A.

Zone B will include Federal United, Frazsiers Whip, Los Perfectos, Mile Gully, Real MoBay, and Springers United.

Hudson said last year’s inaugural season proved a massive success not just for the JWPL but for the PWFJL as well.

She said that there was immediate impact on the league’s mission and that her team is hoping to build on that success.

“Last season marked our inaugural year managing the marketing and commercialisation of the league, and I am proud to say that it exceeded expectations,” Hudson said at the media launch.

“We increased visibility across digital and mainstream platforms, introduced live streaming, and created tangible opportunities for our players, including university scholarships and professional contracts.”

She continued, “That is impact. That is transformation. That is why this work matters. As we enter our second season, we are raising the bar, strengthening our digital footprint, expanding capacity-building initiatives, and building a sustainable ecosystem for women’s football in Jamaica.”

The league is slated to kick off on March 7 with the first round of fixtures.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

Zone A Zone B

Arnett Gardens Federal United

Cavalier Frazsiers Whip

Proven Girls Los Perfectos

Real Mona Mile Gully

UWI Women’s Real MoBay

Wifi United Springers United