STARTING in September 2023 when the school year commences, there will be restrictions on the numbers of foreign nationals who will be allowed to take part in sporting competitions run by the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), it was confirmed on Tuesday.

ISSA President Keith Wellington told the Jamaican Observer that a vote taken among principals in January resulted in the quota similar to the one restricting the number of transfer students who were allowed to compete, being put in place.

A few years ago ISSA voted to restrict the numbers of students who were allowed to compete after transferring from another school, but in this case there will be exemptions for children of Jamaican nationals who were returning to Jamaica, members of the diplomatic corps, and foreigners under the age of 16 years old.

The quota systems will see three players each for football, cricket and hockey; two each for each class in track and field; and two each for basketball and netball.

At least 100 foreign nationals competed at the recent ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, while a number of schools added a number of players from the eastern Caribbean to their Manning Cup teams last year.

“At the last general meeting of principals in January, principals voted to apply the quota rule to all foreign nationals coming to Jamaica and enrolling in schools after the age of 16 years old,” Wellington said Tuesday.

He added: “Therefore, it means effective [this coming] September for all ISSA competitions, the quota system will be applied to students who are enrolled from abroad and who are foreign nationals and would have already attained the age of 16 when they started school in Jamaica. It also means that if a foreign national was enrolled in a school in Jamaica before the age of 16, the quota rule would not apply to them.”

However, there will be exemptions, he said. “We have also taken the decision that students who are children of Jamaican nationals who are coming to Jamaica to attend school, the quota system would not apply to them. Also, students who come to Jamaica as part of a family, especially diplomats and other situations where it can be established that the parents are immigrating to Jamaica, then those will be exempted.”

All other rules, he added, in relation to attendance, academics and age, will also be applied to those students.