‘Back-to-normal’ daCosta Cup to attract 82 teams
A total of 82 schools have expressed interest in participating in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) daCosta Cup football competition set to kick off on September 10, it was announced on Wednesday at a planning meeting held at Manchester High in Mandeville.
The organisers are expecting to return to a full-scale schoolboy football season for the first time since 2019, after the 2020 season was cancelled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Fifty-two teams took part in a shortened competition during the 2021-22 season which saw games played at select venues.
ISSA President Keith Wellington said the upcoming season will see the competition returning to pre-COVID-19 conditions.
At the meeting in Mandeville, it was announced that the 82 teams will play in 15 zones, with matches staged in “areas close to geographic regions as possible”, daCosta Cup Chairman Linvern Wright told the Jamaica Observer.
Matches are to be played Monday to Saturday.
Thirty-two teams — the top two teams from each zone in the first round and the best two third-place finishers — will advance to the second round which will be played on a knockout basis. That will be followed by the round-of-16 stage.
Defending champions Garvey Maceo High will play in Zone N alongside Foga Road, Kemps Hill High, Vere Technical and Winston Jones High, while beaten finalists Mannings School will play in Zone D along with Belmont Academy, Black River High, Godfrey Stewart High, Grange Hill High and Petersfield High.
— Paul A Reid