SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Footballers at the Manning’s School in this western parish are ready for the DaCosta Cup competition. The 27 players on the team, plus their three-man management team, are all fully vaccinated, according to Principal Steve Gordon. Some players were hesitant at first but, for most, their eagerness to get back on the football field was stronger than any qualms they had about getting the jab. Only one player who declined the vaccine is no longer with the team.

Players need to be vaccinated to meet Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) requirements to play during the 2021 season now under way. Play has been halted for more than a year because of COVID-19.

“These players have been anxiously waiting to get back on the field, so they would do anything to play football. They would have also noticed that the vaccine did not affect their other teammates,” Head Coach Everton Tomlinson told the Jamaica Observer.

One player who was initially reluctant to get vaccinated but also anxious to get the opportunity to play again is Manning’s Team Captain Shamar Hamilton.

“I was hesitant at first but then I gained more knowledge about how vaccines work so I decided to go and do it… I’m very excited to go out and represent my school,” he told the Observer.

Goalkeeper Ashawni Campbell, who is in his last year at Manning’s, said he was ready to get vaccinated as soon as the drug became available.

“I’m the youngest child in my family so my brother who got vaccinated abroad was encouraging me to get vaccinated as soon as it was available. I missed out last year, so I’m elated to get back out there and represent my school,” said the 17-year-old.

Over at Godfrey Stewart High School, the team had some trouble in their camp earlier in the season.

Sports department supervisor, Oliver Slowly, said while all 18 current players each have had at least one dose of the vaccine, the team is down two players because of the vaccination requirement.

“We lost players because their parents did not believe in the vaccine. It affected our strength as a team because our numbers are smaller now and we would have lost our most experienced players,” he explained.

Slowly added that the rest of the team members are trying to stay positive despite losing 4-1 to Manning’s on Saturday.

One of the senior players, Ricardo Winter, is still reeling from that loss as well as the absence of his two teammates.

“We’re kinda broken right now because we really lost [valuable] assets, but their parents didn’t want them to take the vaccine. My mother didn’t want me to take it either but I convinced her so I could play,” Winter told the Observer.

His teammate Quain Bailey said he had no problem meeting the requirement as his mother had already been planning for him to get vaccinated as soon as possible. He too regrets not having his teammates with them on the field but he is still optimistic about the season ahead.

“The team has slowed down since they (team members) left. It feels like we have to start all over again, but I feel good for the rest of the matches,” Bailey said.