Greater Portmore Primary became the first regional champions of the Scotiabank Under-11, mixed 5-a-side Kids Football Championship when they overpowered Ebenezer Primary 5-2 in the final played at Manchester High School on Sunday.

The competition, which has been going on throughout Latin America since 2014, is being held in Jamaica for the very first time, and Greater Portmore are the first to clinch a spot in the all-island final.

The tournament began with the group stages on Saturday, with Greater Portmore, Knox Junior School and MaCaulay Primary winning all three first-round games to top their respective groups.

In the quarterfinal round on Sunday, Greater Portmore got by South Starz Academy 2-1, Pike Primary outscored Knox 4-3, while New Forest Primary defeated McCauley Primary 2-1 on penalties after they played out a 2-2 draw in regulation time. In the other quarterfinal, Ascot Primary demolished Ebenezer Primary 9-1 before it was discovered that they had used an ineligible player. Ascot were then disqualified and Ebenezer reinstated.

Greater Portmore continued to show their strength in the semifinals when they spanked Pike 6-3 to advance to the final. Ebenezer took advantage of the lifeline that they had been given as they outscored New Forest 4-3 in the other semifinal.

An intense final was locked at 2-2 when an injury saw the match swing in the favour of Greater Portmore. Chioma Watson, who played alongside her twin sister for Ebenezer during the tournament, suffered an injury, and with no replacement female players on the bench, they were forced to play the remainder of the final a player short.

Greater Portmore took full advantage of having the numerical advantage to power their way to victory, led by their captain and best player, Stephen Brown, who scored three goals in the final and 16 overall and Lebron Gordon, who scored a brace in the final and 10 overall.

Head coach of Greater Portmore Primary, Rushane Cleary was happy with the effort he got from his players after they won all six of their matches on the way to victory.

“They gave a gallant effort over the two days. They played their hearts out. They fought, they showed character, they showed discipline. In a few games, they went behind, and they dug deep and by digging deep they did enough to come out on top each game, so I am really, really proud of them and happy for the effort that they put in.”

South Starz Academy have given themselves a chance of being in the final four of the competition after they secured the most fair play points over the two days. The overall fair play winner gets a chance to join the three regional champions in the all-island final that will be played on the weekend of May 24^th and 25^th at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at the University of the West Indies.

In addition to participating in two days of football, the children were also exposed to financial management through a game called League of Life on Friday. The League of Life game teaches money management skills such as saving, investing and creating businesses. The children were heavily invested in the game, with all of them suggesting that they would want to continue playing the game over time.