ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Parents’ refusal to have their children vaccinated is what has led to St Mary’s College withdrawing from this season’s Manning Cup.conceded 39 unanswered goals in the two games it played before withdrawing from the competition.

Information reaching OBSERVER ONLINE indicates that most of the school’s senior players and regular starters cannot play because they have not been permitted to get the jab.

Only vaccinated players are eligible to participate in this year’s Manning Cup.

The school’s principal, Ryan Williams, declined to comment when contacted by OBSERVER ONLINE on Friday, but sources at the institution say the regular Manning Cup squad has been severely depleted.

This has been evident as the Above Rocks, St Catherine institution

According to one source, some of the top players have also left the school and enrolled at other institutions. Three of these players now attend a top Corporate Area school.

Another source says St Mary’s College has a 20 per cent vaccination rate among students and is not even allowed to have face-to-face classes.

When contacted Thursday, the president of the Inter-secondary School Sports Association (ISSA), Keith Wellington, declined to say why St Mary’s College withdrew from the Manning Cup.

“It’s a private matter between the school and ISSA,” Wellington told OBSERVER ONLINE

In a release posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday, ISSA said the school will have no further participation in the Manning Cup. ISSA says that all previous results involving the school are null and void.