IN an effort to keep ranked teams in the two ISSA football competitions match fit, the organisers will stage the Super Saturday In-season Festival at five venues on September 12, a week after the start of the season and a week before they are scheduled to enter the competitions.

With the format for this year’s staging of the daCosta and Manning Cups adjusted to keep the 15 ranked teams that will enter the competitions later match fit, ISSA will stage the festival featuring three teams from each competition at five venues, with each team playing two games on the day.

The Rural Area daCosta Cup is set to start on September 5, while the Manning Cup will kick off four days later. The new-look Ben Francis Cup is set to start on September 19, with the Walker Cup scheduled to begin on September 26.

ISSA President Keith Wellington said in a meeting with the media on Monday that, there were no guarantees that the format would be repeated in coming seasons as they were still trying to come up with a format that would be more beneficial to more teams.

Describing the new format as “forced change”, Wellington said they accepted that not everyone would like it but said, “We have reviewed the previous models and we saw where tweaks were needed if we are to keep schoolboys football alive.”

In an earlier interview with the Jamaica Observer, Wellington said the new format was an attempt to limit the number of first-round games, many of which were lopsided and did not contribute to the development of the players or teams.

Additionally, the new format will see the Ben Francis and Walker Cup competitions expanded, giving more teams a chance to win silverware while giving the better teams an opportunity to win multiple trophies.

ISSA Competitions Committee Chairman Ewan Scott says the Super Saturday games will be played at Cornwall College, St Elizabeth Technical High, Manchester High, Glenmuir High and St George’s College, with six teams taking part at each venue — three from the daCosta Cup and three from the Manning Cup.

Teams will play two 70-minute games each, starting at 9:30 am, with daCosta Cup teams facing Manning Cup teams. Scott says there will be no final or winners.

“We wanted to give these teams a chance to get competition as they would have been sitting while the unranked teams were already playing,” he said.

A number of coaches had expressed concerns that the ranked teams could be at a disadvantage at the start of the second round if they remained idle while the unranked teams were active, playing up to five games before meeting them.

— Paul A Reid