3 weeks ago
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LAST YEAR’S ISSA Ben Francis KO champions St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) are heading into the 2025 daCosta Cup football competition not dwelling on players lost but focusing on the new season’s potential.
Coach Omar ‘Rambo’ Wedderburn has set his sights on building an even better championship-calibre team.
“I always look at the new season as brand new and what we can achieve. Honestly, I don’t really look at it as who I retain or lose,” Wedderburn told The Gleaner.
STETHS ended a nine-year drought with a 3-1 victory over Clarendon College in the Ben Francis KO final last December.
“We are setting our bar very high that as time goes by and the season starts, we will move in the direction that we can actually win a silverware or two,” he added.
Despite a quiet preseason, Wedderburn describes the team as hard-working, with a rebuilding phase under way.
“Unlike previous years, this year is a very quiet and nice one for us,” said Wedderburn, who commended the coaching staff and managers involved.
The veteran head coach admitted that the team has had slow starts in recent years, and he is now focused on avoiding that in the new season.
“We definitely don’t want to repeat a start like last season. Our main focus now is to get a better start. We always prepare our players to go all the way and sometimes we fall short, but we have to keep going.”
STETHS have won 12 schoolboy football titles, the daCosta Cup in 1974, 1999, 2009, 2013, and 2015, and six consecutive Ben Francis KO titles in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. With last year’s seventh title, they are now tied with Cornwall College.
Last season, STETHS missed out on a place in the daCosta Cup semi-finals after a 5-2 defeat to Glenmuir High.
Over the years, the Ben Francis KO that was once viewed as prestigious, is now referred to as the ‘loser’s cup’ and according to Wedderburn, although the team is grateful for the silverware, they would prefer to play for the daCosta Cup.
“Certainly, this year, if I have a choice not to play for it, I would take that and play for the daCosta Cup instead,” Wedderburn said.
Eight schools who were eliminated from the daCosta cup quarter-finals were given a second chance to vie for the Ben Francis title.
“People call it the loser’s cup, but we call it the Ben Francis Cup. You start the season with nothing and at the end, you come out with something,” added Wedderburn.
STETHS will be campaigning in Zone E of the daCosta Cup in the first round alongside B.B. Coke High, Munro College, Maggotty High, Newell High and Lacovia High.
The ISSA schoolboy football season will kick off on Saturday, September 6.
English (US) ·