THE question of how the Jamalco coaching staff will manage to keep their players motivated will most likely be revisited many times during this season’s Clarendon Captain’s Bakery Major League.

If they win the competition they, along with the second-placed team, will advance to the Super Eight play-off of the South Central Confederation. Lose, or even finish last, they, along with the champions, will still advance to the Super Eight tournament.

It is pretty much the same story for DB Basovak of St Catherine, Alligator Pond Social Club of Manchester and Black Stars of St Elizabeth. The parallel here is that all four teams won their respective major leagues last season, but, as they normally would, were unable to advance to the South Central Super League because the competition, as we know it, no longer exists.

The competition was shelved at the start of this season by the Confed executive, who cited lack of sustained sponsorship and general public support when announcing their decision. Instead of the Super League, a Super Eight play-off has been instituted.

This shortened and presumably more economically viable version of the Super League will feature two teams each — the Major League champions and their runner-ups — from the four parish associations which make up the South Central Confederation.

However, with Jamalco, DB Basovak, Alligator Pond and Black Stars being denied promotion to the Super League they were each awarded a place in the Super Eight.

This means those four teams will technically use their respective Major League fixtures as practice games leading up to the play-off, but with the added bonus of still having the chance to win the cash prize which is usually awarded to the championship teams.

In the case of Jamalco, they are unbeaten after four games in the Clarendon Captain’s Bakery Major League, having dropped their first points on Monday following a goalless draw with Zone One rivals Kemps Hill.

Despite the stalemate, Jamalco still lead the group on 10 points and are a point away from qualifying for the mid-season final.

Team manager Ewan Scott said their aim in this season’s Major League is pretty much to foster team chemistry in preparation for the upcoming Super Eight play-offs.

“Our objective is to play in the top competition in the island,” said Scott, “so [having already qualified for the Super Eight] we see this as an opportunity to hone our skills, to get the team playing well as a unit. We don’t want to be underprepared going into the Confed competition. That is our motivation.”

While Jamalco, who have so far scored six unanswered goals, could secure their place in the end-of-round final without even kicking a ball, the race for the other spot is turning into an intriguing battle.

As many as four teams from Zone Two are still in with a chance of making the incentive final, which is scheduled for next Saturday.

Treadlight, with seven points from four games, lead the chase, but are being closely policed by York Town (six), Comfort (six) and Milk River (five).

Mathematically, fifth-placed Four Paths (four) could still sneak in, but they will first need to beat Woodhall in an away game at Turners by more than three clear goals, then hope for at least three other results to go their way.