ALFRED Nelson, coach of reigning double Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA) football champions Mona, has strongly indicated that they will be pulling out all the stops to retain both titles in this year’s competition.

Mona capped off a fine campaign last season by winning both the Alberga Cup and the Henriques Cup knockout competitions.

“It is a new season, a new team, and so we are looking forward to a good season. I know that there are other teams out there that are also ready, and so we are trying to get ourselves prepared to see if we can achieve the back-to-back double,” said Nelson.

“I am pretty confident in the unit that I have because I know they will do well this year. There are a lot of challenges because it is prep school and it involves youngsters. We know that all the coaches want to win these titles but we are prepared and ready to go,” he added.

Nelson was speaking following the draw of teams for both the football and netball competitions, held at Alvernia Prep School in St Andrew on Friday.

He noted that they have retained a significant portion of last year’s players, along with several newcomers, and are looking forward to the October 14 start of the competition.

Thirty-eight teams are set to compete in this year’s football competition, an increase of five from the previous year, while 22 schools are to participate in the netball competition.

“This year’s team should be very competitive because we have a lot of experience in the group. Based on what I have seen so far, I think we should be able to reach the final and take it from there.

“We have a mixed team, because we have some youngsters that we are building for the next two years and we have a group that will be leaving us next year which was the backbone of last year’s team,” Nelson stated.

JISA President Tamar McKenzie said, based on feedback received so far, they are expecting a very successful season this year.

“I think so far our expectations have been exceeded because we have confirmed 38 schools for Under-12 football and 22 schools for netball. That is five more schools for football so we are already starting strong with performance and registration from last year,” she said.

“We have greater engagement so far with the coaches and sports committee, and I am really looking forward to an excellent display of sportsmanship. It is important to create a safe space for our student athletes to develop and for our coaches to grow as well, while ensuring the students have some fun.

“It is definitely going to be exciting this year, based on the turnout and engagement we have seen with the public draw, and the number of coaches supporting it is significant,” McKenzie added.