The highly anticipated Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/FLOW Super Cup football tournament returns on November 10 and culminates with an All Star team participating in a training session conducted by Manchester United coaches.

The three-week spectacle with a final set for November 25, has been reduced from 16 teams to eight, it was announced during a novel online press conference held yesterday by communications giant FLOW.

Four teams from the corporate area Walker Cup knockout competition pitted against the top four rural-based schools from the Ben Francis competition with the draw set for November 2.

A whopping prize package of $1.8 million will be shared among the eight participating teams, with the winner of the ISSA/FLOW Super Cup taking home $1 million cash for school development. There will also be a Golden Boot award for the top goalscorer.

Wolmer’s Boys’ School are the defending champions but will not be able to defend their title, having being knocked out of the Manning Cup in the second round by Bridgeport High that effectively ended their schoolboy football season.

The Sabina Park in Kingston and Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay are the two designated venues that will ensure the highest-quality execution by FLOW. The organisers also revealed that the players will be equipped with premium kits and game day services.

Carlo Redwood, FLOW’s vice-president of marketing and TV, outlined that this year’s Super Cup will be spectacular and will even provide the players with a chance to impress the Manchester United coaches at the end of the competition.

“This year we have leverage a partnership with the world’s most popular football club — Manchester United — that will see an All Star Super Cup team being selected to participate in a full day’s training session with the Manchester United coaches. Further details of this initiative will be announced later, but I am sure you will agree that this is a great opportunity for further development of the youngsters. But who knows, maybe a player or two could catch the eye of those coaches,” said Redwood.

“We have a spectacular staging of ISSA/FLOW Super Cup planned and we invite our schools, fans islandwide to gear up, come out in your colours and get ready to witness a spectacular battle for the title as the best high school football team in Jamaica,” he added.

“Our continued aim is to help boost the marketability of the local football product. As we all know, it takes cash to care and development requires funding. Increased investment must be a key priority both at the school and community level, as well as through the national competitions organised by ISSA,” said Redwood via the live internet streaming.

“The ISSA/FLOW Super Cup is intended to benchmark what excellence looks like and so we express our thanks to the members of corporate Jamaica, ISSA and other stakeholders who have embraced the vision and are working in the background to move the sport forward,” he added.

Redwood revealed the change in format from 16 to eight schools as a move to reduce the number of games the schoolboys are asked to play in a short, compact season.

“Over the last couple of years we have all struggled with the amount of football being played by the youngsters. The season is a long season and what we found especially last year, the teams were playing back-to-back in a short space of time and that was impacting not only on their performances, but we don’t want to burn kids out or get them injured. So in discussion with ISSA, we had to look at the entire structure to make it more efficient in terms of how we lay out, how much rest time teams get and play, and that was really the factor that we worked with ISSA to ensure to give the players enough recovery time,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

ISSA president Dr Walton Small once again thanked FLOW, noting that their investment extends far beyond cash as their guidance in how to structure and market the product is immeasurable”.

“We have already seen significant gains this year with the new format and we look forward with high anticipation to the Super Cup Competition. I want to commend the FLOW team and the many sponsors for significant investment and the planned improvements to the 2017 season which will guarantee an engaging and exciting competition,” said Dr Small.

Meanwhile, FLOW Sponsorship and Events Manager Stephen Miller believes the reduced tournament will still have the pulling power that saw thousands flock to the venues on Super Cup weekends.

“This is a competition that has grown from strength to strength and the fact that it is starting from eight teams, it will be eight very strong teams. Changes that have taken place in the Manning Cup and daCosta Cup competitions have seen the momentum build up before the actual Super Cup kick-off…” Miller pointed out.

With tickets going on sale on November 8, Miller has urged patrons to secure their tickets early and from official ticket outlets.

“Fans will be able to get tickets early for what we believe will be a high-demand Super Cup kick-off weekend on November 10th and 11th. Our official ticket outlets are FLOW flagship stores in Montego Bay and Kingston. I want to urge patrons to secure your tickets prior to game day and make your way to venues early — that is critical. We also caution members of the public from purchasing tickets from any unauthorised source. Strict vigilance will be maintained on each match day and we seek the kind corporation of our patrons in this regard,” said Miller.

Tickets can be purchased at the Carlton store on Half-Way-Tree road in Kingston and the Flow Store Fairview in Montego Bay. Entry to Sabina Park will be $500 for both the George Headley and North Stand, while in Catherine Hall, it’s $500 for Bleachers and $1000 for Grand Stand.

Miller also shared that high focus will be placed on the fan experience, inclusive of using popular sound systems, DJs, recording artistes, dancers, along with tons of prizes and giveaways courtesy of the sponsors.

A comprehensive televised broadcast package is also scheduled to air exclusively on FLOW Sports (Channel 690) available on both the FLOW Network and other local providers. Football lovers may also relive the 2016 season on Flow’s Video on Demand service — free of cost.

A raft of corporate partners were also announced for the 2017 season. They include Coca Cola — presenting sponsor, along with Freshhh, PowerAde and Pringles, KFC, Scotiabank, ATL Automotive, Locker Room Sports and media partners, the Jamaica Observer, Irie FM, Zip 103 FM and FLOW Sports.