Jamaica's Under-17 Reggae Boyz will begin their quest for a place in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Championships in Nigeria, when they take on Antigua and Barbuda at 11 a.m. (local time) in the opening round of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Youth Cup in Trinidad and Tobago today.

Also hoping to make their mark, Jamaica's Under-15 female footballers will leave the island today for the same country, where they will take part in Group B of the inaugural Under-15 CFU Youth Cup. The young Reggae Girlz have been placed alongside Haiti, the Cayman Islands and Aruba.

Placed in Group E, the Boyz - in addition to Antigua and Barbuda - have to battle against the Dominican Republic and the Netherland Antilles.

Jamaica's second game will be against the Netherland Antilles on Saturday, before closing out their fixtures against the Dominican Republic on August 4.

With 21 youth national teams playing in six groups, only the group winners, along with the two best second-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals, which will take place on August 6.

The semi-finals and finals of the event will then take place at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya on August 8 and 10, respectively.

The winner and runner-up from the CFU Youth Cup will then advance to the CONCACAF U-17 Championship, which will take place in Mexico in April next year.

The confederation's tournament will then qualify four teams to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

After hosting the final stage of the tournament in 2007, Jamaica, despite a historical win over the US, were bumped out of the competition following losses to Costa Rica, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.