2 weeks ago
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PRESIDENT OF the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Keith Wellington, will leave all options on the table for the resumption of the Manning and daCosta Cup football competitions, when his organisation meets some time next week.
Wellington, in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, said a meeting of the principals was not an immediate thing because ISSA wants to give each school time to do their assessment before any fruitful decision is made.
“We have not yet had the opportunity to meet as a team to discuss the various options available to us,” said Wellington, who is also the principal of St Elizabeth Technical High School.
The need for the postponement of schoolboy sports became apparent as Hurricane Melissa ravaged the island. However, the length of the pause came up for question, given the devastation suffered, especially by western and central parishes on Tuesday.
OWN ASSESSMENT
“We will not want to meet yet either, because we think we need to give each school the opportunity to do their own assessment where they are as a school generally, not just for football,” he said.
The thought process has led Wellington to believe a meeting early next week could be on the cards, but that it was still too early to even think about what the possibilities for the rest of the football season are.
“We’ll look at where the schools are, we’ll look at how schools will be able to manage, whether or not the resources are there,” the ISSA president said. “(It’s) not just football, because you have to be reminded that netball and basketball would have been played at this time as well.”
OTHER COMPETITIONS
According to Wellington, the other competitions are just as important to ISSA, and so there has to be a holistic look at what is possible.
“We consider all our competitions a very important part of the school’s curriculum and, therefore, whatever can be done to allow the competitions to go ahead, we will do once it’s possible.”
That being said, Wellington did give a picture, even if a little vague, of how difficult it may become to organise the rest of the schoolboy football season.
“We had 16 teams in (the) Manning Cup, 16 in daCosta Cup. It means that, if a team was to play in all the games, all the rounds that are left, there would have been 11 playing days left, which is approximately five and a half weeks if we play two games per week. So we will bear that in mind and look at how much time is left and if there are going to be any need to make adjustments to the competitions as well,” he said.
“There may be some options that would allow us to go ahead once the schools are able to play,” he said.
PUSHED INTO JANUARY
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, there have been quarters suggesting that schoolboy football could be pushed into January, as was done during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am open to whatever options that may be put forward,” said Wellington, noting that there was precedence for such a thing.
“During COVID, we actually started the Manning and daCosta Cup in November and then played the semi-finals and finals in January.
“I know there has been talk in the past about extending the season into January, which is not something that we necessarily want to do. But these are circumstances that require solutions that may not be the norm.”
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