The Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning and daCosta Cup football competitions are set to resume on the weekend of November 28-29, the organisers announced on Friday.

In a release issued yesterday, ISSA set out a timeline for the resumption of school sports, starting on November 24, saying the “full revised format and schedule for Netball [U19/U16], Basketball [U19/U16 Boys] and the Manning/Dacosta cups will be published by Thursday, November 20, 2025”.

High school sports, including football, netball and basketball, were suspended just under three weeks ago as Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm that made landfall on October 28, left a trail of death and destruction on the western end of the country.

“ISSA reiterates its support for our member schools in these challenging times and commits to providing the opportunity for our students to be engaged in wholesome sporting activities as a part of the process of healing and recovery as they attempt to return to normalcy,” the release said in part.

The release also addressed plans for the U14 and U16 football competitions.

“The decision was taken to suspend the start of Junior Football Competitions to the start of the Easter term in January 2026,” the release also said.

The release said the decision to restart the competitions following the conclusion of “deliberations on the resumption of inter-schools’ sports competitions after the passing of Hurricane Melissa and its devastating impact on Western Jamaica” and “Following consultations with its various stakeholders including participating schools, sponsors, match officials and its general membership.”

ISSA added: “despite the impact of Hurricane Melissa on a number of its member schools, including some of those currently engaged in our competitions, there was an overwhelming sentiment from these schools, supported by other stakeholders, that we resume our competitions.

“ISSA is committed to using it competitions as a tool to aid in the recovery of our students from the physical and psychological impact of Hurricane Melissa. As such, we will be engaging our stakeholders, including the general public in our post-Melissa competitions’ activities geared towards our Hurricane Relief efforts in support of affected schools.”

The Manning and daCosta Cup competitions are at the Round of 16 stage with one of the three sets of games played with two more to be contested before the quarter-finalists are decided.

Earlier in the week, it was learned that ISSA had planned to complete both Manning and daCosta Cup competitions as well as the Walker and Ben Francis Cup knockout tournaments with the ISSA President’s Cup set to be contested in January.