STETHS think ‘super pre-season’ will drive campaign
CATHERINE HALL, St James — St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) will start the defence of their ISSA/Lime daCosta Cup schoolboy football title when they meet BB Coke in Zone E, the official opening game at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, Catherine Hall, starting at 4:00 pm.
For the first time, there will be a full slate of games on opening day with 25 set to be contested in 11 zones in the
new-look season.
The BB Coke vs STETHS game will be the second of three planned for the Montego Bay Sports Complex, following the opening Manning Cup game between champion Jamaica College and Jonathan Grant. Another daCosta Cup Zone A game between St James High and Green Pond set for the venue at 6:00 pm.
After winning six titles in the last five years, capped by the daCosta Cup/Ben Francis KO double last season, STETHS are in a rebuilding mode having lost nine of their starters from last season.
Despite this, however, the Omar Wedderburn-coached team should be good enough to get by BB Coke, who are returning to the St Elizabeth zone after playing alongside schools from Manchester for the past six seasons.
Wedderburn told the Jamaica Observer yesterday his team had completed “one of our best pre-seasons”.
“We learned where we needed to get better, we learned how to maintain our composure, whether winning or losing,” he said.
In the late game today, Green Pond will hope to start the season off on a positive note and should be fuelled by the fact they beat St James High twice last season on the way to topping the zone, but later lost four straight games to end the season on a low.
Both teams will hope to start the season with a win as Zone A is expected to be a three-team race as Cornwall College are expected to contend for honours, as well.
In Zone H, Clarendon College have not won the title since 1998, but are highly-touted as a contender for the title and they will test their readiness when they start against Thompson Town.
Munro College, who have not won a daCosta Cup title since 1964, open away to Newell High at the Treasure Beach Sports Complex. According to coach Andrew Edwards, Munro are more focused on the games they have to play after getting out of the zone.
The loss of playmaker Johann Weatherly, who was signed by the LA Galaxy Academy, will affect the team somewhat, Edwards admitted.
