IRWIN, St James — The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) announced a new format for the schoolboy football competition for this season, which is set to kick off in early September and at least three coaches are willing to give it a try and see where it goes.

Under the new format, seeded teams will sit out the first rounds of the Manning and daCosta Cup competitions, while the Cup competitions — the Walker and Ben Francis — will be restored to their original status, in which all the top teams will be able to compete for it.

Kemar Ricketts, the newly hired head coach at Calabar High, is welcoming the new format, particularly the rethinking of the Cup competitions, and told the Jamaica Observer on Sunday he was excited that teams could win up to three titles as long as they remained consistent through the season.

Dewight Jeremiah of William Knibb Memorial, which is one of the seeded teams, expressed reservations about having to face teams that would have played multiple competitive games before they started the competition, while Cleighton Stephens of Frome Technical, who will start the competition in the first round, says they will need the early games to get their season going.

All three coaches were taking part in Sunday’s first staging of the Orville Sandcroft Unity Cup competition staged by Irwin High School.

Kemar Ricketts

Ricketts, who led BB Coke to the Ben Francis title in 2019, the St Elizabeth-based school’s only football title, said he understood the idea to try to eliminate lopsided second-round games. “The positive for me is that it brings back the prestige to the knockout competitions, which I think is great,” he said.

He agreed with Jeremiah that some coaches did not want to sit and wait on teams that had started playing.

“I think once we start the competition and we go along, more adjustment will be made, and then, you know, we can fight for all trophies, which is always great. I think that’s one of the best things …it gives you a chance now to to walk away with three trophies if your team is that consistent,” said Ricketts.

Jeremiah was of the opinion that while the format is aimed at producing “better-quality games in the second round”, he believes, in reality, there could be another result.

“Everything has its downside, and the downside will ask for us to be creative as coaches because we will be idle for a while. And even though the Ben Francis comes around in between the first and second round, if you don’t do well enough, you probably will just have one game [in the Cup competition],” Jeremiah said.

He reasoned that the unseeded team coming into the Ben Francis “would have come to you already playing at least five games, even if they drop out of the daCosta Cup, so that is the challenge with it, though. But in terms of ensuring you get quality games as a seeded team, not a problem. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with rewarding good performances”.

Kemar Beckford of Frome Technical (left) shields the ball from Cambridge High’s Dajae Laird in their ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup Zone B game that was played at Cambridge High on Friday, September 15 2023. Frome Tech won the game 3-2. (Photo: Paul Reid)

Jeremiah argued that young players must be allowed to play as many games as they can for their development but said also he understood the reason ISSA was trying to minimise the lopsided games, some of which sees schools scoring in double digits.

Stephens, who has led Frome Technical deep into both the daCosta Cup and the Ben Francis Cup, said he was okay starting the season in the first round as his young team will need the games to become a cohesive unit.

Of the new system, he said, “It will work for me this season. I am happy not being seeded because I have a really young squad, so I want them to play and learn.” He also pointed out, “If we had to wait for the second round, I think probably it would be difficult for my team because it’s a young squad, not to say they are not good and they will not improve, but I am happy to be in the first round of this season. So they get some play and to go into the Ben Francis and all that.”

He was still waiting, he said, to see how the new format would improve the quality of the competition.

“To be honest, I would say this is something new, and I think we should just give them a chance and see how it runs. We were all at the ISSA meeting when it was announced and we understood that it was also something the sponsors wanted as they want the excitement and all of that, so let’s give it a try and see what happens,” said Stephens.