BY SHERDON COWAN

Observer staff reporter

cowans@jamaicaobserver.com

A number of minor changes await football enthusiasts for the 2015 Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/ FLOW Manning and daCosta Cup competitions as the rebranded firm officially announced its continued sponsorship at the launch yesterday.

The Terra Nova Hotel once again hosted the glitzy affair where FLOW will continue its multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal which began in 2013 with the previous brand, LIME. The telecommunications and media firm will follow through on its previous five-year deal where they committed $150 million for both competitions.

In addition to that, organisers have also announced the innovation of night fixtures, as well as the introduction of a new pooling system, which a number of sponsors have bought into as each pool was sold for $2 million.

Forbes added that the night games would kick off at 6:00 pm on a Friday or Saturday to accommodate parents who have been complaining about not seeing their children in action.

Meanwhile, Gary Sinclair, managing director of FLOW, pointed out that along with projects like Super Cup, they will continue to develop the immense potential contained in the programme as far as bringing exposure and overall development to players and institutions.

He added that they will also announce further innovations in the coming weeks that will also improve the way that fans of the sport are able to get and keep updated on daily matches and the progress of their favourite team in real time.

“We are ecstatic; like I said in my address it is the most popular, exciting and most followed football competition on the island, bar none. It is only going to get bigger and bigger due to some of the innovations the legacy company has brought to the table like the schoolboy Champions League which we call the Super Cup,” noted Sinclair.

“So we are going to continue innovating with the competition itself to make it more and more exciting so that we can in fairness, promote our brand and develop schoolboy and youth football, and give them something to aspire to both in the rural teams and the teams in the Manning Cup,” he explained.

Manning Cup champions Jamaica College will kick-start the season against Calabar on September 12 at 2:00 pm, while defending daCosta Cup champions Clarendon College oppose Edwin Allen High at 4:45 pm before Irwin High tackle Cornwall College at 6:45 pm in the usual triple header at Catherine Hall Sports Complex in Montego Bay.

Seventy-nine schools will participate in the rural area daCosta Cup and there will be a change in format with what was normally the quarter-final stage increased from eight to 16 teams.

In addition to the eight group winners, the runners-up will also advance into four groups of four with the winners qualifying for the semi-finals. The final will be contested on December 5 at Catherine Hall Sports Complex.

The Manning Cup format remains the same to be contested by 38 teams consisting of seven groups of six teams with the top-two from each group, plus two best third place teams advancing to the second round. Four zones will have four teams each, with the group winners moving to the semi-finals. The final will be contested on November 28 at the National Stadium.

The Olivier Shield will remain a one-leg encounter which will be contested on December 12.