2 months ago
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A total of 120 schools, from both the rural and urban areas, will contest the 2024 Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning Cup and daCosta Cup competitions which are scheduled to kick off on September 7 at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James.
Twelve schools which have been out of the daCosta Cup for more than a year will return to the competition. The schools are Alston High, Anchovy High, Godfrey Stewart High, Herbert Morrison High, Holland High, Little London High, Marcus Garvey High, Muschett High, Seaforth High, St Thomas Technical, Troy High and Winston Jones High.
Speaking at Wednesday’s launch of the 2024 season, Linvern Wright, chairman of the daCosta Cup, shared that organisers are happy with the return of the schools to rural area football.
“We’re happy as these are teams that haven’t been in the competition for a while, and we’re glad to have them back. I figure they’re hoping for the best and we hope the best for them as well, as the important thing is to have them in the mix,” Wright said.
Wright added that he was pleased to have matches return to the Montego Bay Sports Complex ahead of what is expected to be a highly competitive schoolboy football season.
“A huge difference for us this year is that we’re going to Montego Bay and I believe it was time we took it (opening games) back to the west. I think this year the rural folks are looking forward to that,” he added.
Wright shared that part of their goal at ISSA is to encourage more participation in their annual competitions. This, he believes, augurs well for the country’s growth in sports.
“What we are about at ISSA is to ensure that schools are participating, as we see the results of this. We see players playing in the national teams and also internationally, and those are the sort of things that we want. We want that for every single school and player in Jamaica,” Wright said.
One of the feel-good stories of last year’s rural area competition was McGrath High winning their first football title after defeating Frome Technical 1-0 in the Ben Francis Cup final. According to their head coach Jermaine Thomas, his band of boys is ‘ready’ for the upcoming season.
“We’re very excited ahead of this season. A little bit anxious because there’s a side of you that wants to re-do what was done, but football isn’t entirely like that. You have to play hard in order to get your results. Last year’s title did a lot for them and, looking at them in training, you can see that they’re ready and upbeat,” Thomas shared.
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