Barbados is set to make history for women’s football with the launch of its first-ever women’s Prime Minister’s Cup, and organizers have locked in the full lineup of participating teams after extending the registration deadline to last weekend. A total of ten squads will compete for the $100,000 first place prize, headlined by all eight teams from the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Kotex Women’s League: Paradise, Empire, RF Prime, Mavericks, Technique, Whitehall, FVFC Femeni and Police. Two additional outside squads, Kickstart Rush Women and Weymouth Wales, round out the inaugural tournament field.
Omari Eastmond, chair of the Prime Minister’s Cup Organising Committee, shared that the event’s planning team had initially set a target of 12 teams for the first women’s edition, but confirmed that ten will be the maximum final entry count this cycle. He added that one additional side had expressed interest in joining, but was unable to assemble a complete roster. Rather than dropping out entirely, the interested players opted to merge with existing competing squads to deepen their rosters ahead of kickoff.
The women’s tournament operates as a parallel competition to the men’s Prime Minister’s Cup, which is already in its third consecutive year and is scheduled to get underway on September 7 at the Friendship Playing Field in St Michael. To date, 21 men’s teams have been confirmed for the 2024 tournament, with organizers working to finalize the final three spots by the end of next week, when the group stage draw will be held to reveal each team’s placement. A transfer window for the men’s competition opened August 10 and will close August 19, allowing player moves between participating squads, and players from teams that did not qualify for the cup are also eligible to sign with competing sides for the duration of the tournament. Eastmond noted that planning for the men’s event is moving forward without significant issues.
However, the upcoming women’s cup has drawn discussion around competitive balance, following a string of lopsided results in the ongoing eight-team BFA Women’s League. Fans and football analysts have warned that the competitive gap between teams could be even more extreme in the cup competition, and have put forward a proposal to restructure the format: implementing a seeded player draft to create franchise-based teams that would create a more level playing field for all participants.
Eastmond confirmed that organizers have taken note of the feedback, and have already held preliminary discussions with representatives from the competing women’s teams. The full organizing committee will meet in the coming weeks to review all submitted suggestions and finalize a way forward, with a further public update expected once a decision is reached. The committee remains open to adjusting format rules to address concerns about competitive imbalance as it works to launch a successful first edition of the women’s tournament.