ISSA eases into return of ‘normal’ schoolboy football
After affecting COVID-19-altered schoolboy football competitions last season, Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) president Keith Wellington says his organisation is aiming to ease back into regular proceedings before contemplating any further tweaks to improve the product.
His comments came as ISSA prepares to execute the 2022 schoolboy football season in its official full-fledged format for the first time in two years, with almost a full complement of 37 Manning Cup and 81 daCosta Cup teams. The All-Island Knockout tournament, formerly known as the Champions Cup or the President’s Cup, is also set to return with details to be announced at a later date.
This follows a truncated 2021 season in which only 21 teams participated in the Manning Cup and 53 in the daCosta Cup.
At the conclusion of that season earlier this year, Kingston College and Garvey Maceo reigned supreme in their respective urban and rural area competitions. Edwin Allen won the rural area Ben Francis Cup knockout title, while St Catherine successfully defended the Walker Cup crown.
“What we have tried to do is ensure that we can get back to normal before exposing ourselves too much, so there aren’t any significant novelties.
“We are just looking to execute the best possible product for our football-loving supporters with another season of entertainment, intrigue and insight into the future of Jamaica’s football,” Wellington said during the launch at the National Stadium on Wednesday.
This year’s season is scheduled to kick off on September 10, with a triple-header at Sabina Park.
Garvey Maceo will square off against Kemps Hill at 2:30 pm; while Manning Cup champions Kingston College and Calabar High will lock horns at 5:00 pm. St George’s College and Ardenne High will then do battle at 7:00 pm.
The 37 Manning Cup teams are split in six groups with the top two from each group, plus the four best third-placed teams will be seeded to contest the Round of 16 in a home-and-away tie.
From there, the winners on aggregate will progress to the quarter-final, where they will be split into two groups of four. The top two from each group will contest the semi-final to determine the finalists.
Meanwhile, the eight teams that failed to progress from the Round of 16 will contest the first round of the Walker Cup with the four winners going on to face the four teams that failed at the Manning Cup quarter-finals.
For the daCosta Cup, the 81 teams are split in 15 groups. The top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams will make up the seeded 32 to contest the second round in home-and-away fixtures, after which the 16 winners will split into four groups of four with the top two progressing to the quarter-final.
The four winners will then do battle to determine the finalists.
Similar to the Manning Cup, the eight teams that failed at the Round of 16 will open the first round of the Ben Francis, with the four winners going on to face the four teams that failed at the quarter-final stage.
Wellington said the increased participation augurs well for spectators, who would have missed out last season, as only a limited number of vaccinated spectators were allowed access to the venues.
“We are looking forward to it. It is basically schoolboy football twice in the same calendar year for the first time. So we are excited based on what would have transpired last season and we figure that if we can maintain or build on what we did in the truncated season then we are in for some exciting times this season,” the president noted.
Unlike last year when selected venues were used for crowd control, Wellington pointed out that things will return to pre-pandemic settings with schools being responsible for venues in the preliminary rounds.
“So it is back to basically where we were and then when we get to the second round and onwards, ISSA selects the venue and which venues are more suited. Because, remember, we are going to have a lot more games than we did last season, so essentially we need more venues,” he said.