CATHERINE HALL, St James — Unless any of the three western-based schools make it to the final of either the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA daCosta Cup or the Ben Francis Knockout, there will be no schoolboy football at Catherine Hall this season.

Catherine Hall, which has been used for most of the major games, primarily in the daCosta Cup and Ben Francis competitions for the last 10 years or so, was originally down as one of the venues to be used late in the current season, but according to ISSA President Keith Wellington, using the venue might not be feasible for a number of reasons.

ISSA released the venues for the remaining matches in the season and games in the rural area daCosta Cup and Ben Francis KO will be played at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex in Santa Cruz, Drax Hall in St Ann and Kirkvine in Manchester.

Both the Ben Francis KO and daCosta Cup finals are scheduled for STETHS on Friday, January 21, with the Olivier Shield set to be played there or at Drax Hall on January 29.

“We don’t have Catherine Hall on the schedule now,” Wellington told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. “The combination of not being allowed to have [paying] spectators and the cost of renting the venue would put a strain on ISSA and would not be feasible.”

Additionally, he said the western teams — Manning’s School, Frome Technical and Cornwall College — would have to advance deep into the competitions to make playing there worthwhile.

ISSA and other sporting bodies had their request for fans to be allowed to attend games denied by the Government last week, in light of the growing number of new COVID-19 infections.

The fans who were originally given permission for the second-round games, after providing proof of vaccination, will still be allowed to attend games, however.

The schoolboys’ football season is scheduled to resume tomorrow with the first-round games in the ISSA Champions Cup after a two-week break with the first round of the Ben Francis KO set for January 13 and the Walker Cup KO semis a day later, at the Stadium East.

— Paul Reid