DESPITE ISSA working with one of its smallest sponsorship budgets for schoolboy football in recent times, President Keith Wellington believes this season could be one of the best yet, thanks to a revamped structure across the various competitions.

The launch of the prestigious under-19 high school football season was held on Wednesday, with the daCosta Cup set to begin next Saturday while the Manning Cup kicks off four days later.

However ISSA will execute the competitions with less sponsorship dollars this year, which Wellington says is down to a little over $40 million.

Long-time sponsor Wisynco, which supported the competition for more than a decade through its various brands, has not returned this year after investing $37.3 million in last year’s season. Bert’s Auto Parts has also not returned after coming on board in 2025.

Jusanna Staple (white shirt), WATA brand co-ordinator, and ISSA President Keith Wellington present the winning trophy to Excelsior High team members after they defeated Jamaica College 2-0 in the Manning Cup final at the National Stadium on December 19, 2025. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

KFC; Kirk Distributors through its brands Kendel and Cetamol; and Charles Chocolate, through its brand Ping Pong, have remained on board while Happy Ice has joined as a new sponsor, just weeks after former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Operations Manager Omar McFarlane was named CEO.

While grateful for the current partnerships Wellington says fan support will be crucial this season to help offset the sponsorship shortfall.

“It has and will have a significant impact on schoolboy football in terms of what we are hoping to do. That is why it is even more important that the fans come out and support the competition,” he said. “This is their thing; it’s the fans’ thing. They want to see schoolboy football each year, they want to see their schools participate, and their support in coming and paying $500 at the gate, those little contributions will help to support their schools.”

“We provide all the schools with playing gear, we provide the referee fees for everybody, and obviously we have to find venues when it comes to the latter stages of the competition so we need the support of the general public.”

(From left) ISSA President Keith Wellington, St Elizabeth Technical Head Coach Omar Wedderburn, KFC Brand Manager Andrei Roper, Kendel/Cetamol Business Development Manager Tynielle Chambers-Barnett and Calabar head Coach Kemar Ricketts are locked in discussion during the schoolboy football launch at CVM TV headquarters on Wednesday.

This season will be one of the most unique in the near-120-year history of schoolboy football. The top 15 teams from both the Manning Cup and DaCosta Cup have earned byes into the second round, with nine teams from the Manning Cup first round and 21 from the daCosta Cup first round advancing to join them.

Wellington says this could lead to a more competitive season compared to previous years.

“We are hoping that the first round — where the teams we believe are more equally matched — will be a lot more competitive and the best teams will advance. And they advance having played [5, 6, 7 games already] to compete against the more established programmes who may have played a lot more practice matches.”

The formats of the knockout competitions, the urban area Walker Cup, and the rural area Ben Francis Cup have also changed, with the top 32 teams now competing. For the past seven years the semi-finalists of the Manning and daCosta Cup were unable to compete.

The all-island knockout tournament, the Champions Cup, will have its format decided during the season.

St Elizabeth Technical football players celebrate with fans after the team’s penalty shoot-out victory over Glenmuir High in the ISSA daCosta Cup final at the National Stadium on December 20, 2025. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

“We are happy that most persons are comfortable with the changes and are happy to see the changes. What we need to do now is to ensure that we execute properly and that we get the support, not just from the teams involved but from the supporting cast — the students, the general public, and corporate Jamaica, to ensure that we have a successful season,” said Wellington.

Excelsior High will look to defend their Manning Cup title while St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) will look to retain their daCosta Cup title. Clarendon College are the only team from either competition to have successfully defended their title since 2018.

Manning Cup seeded teams: Excelsior, Jamaica College, St Catherine, Wolmer’s Boys’, Campion College, Charlie Smith, Calabar, St Jago, STATHS, Kingston College, Tivoli Gardens, St George’s College, Eltham, Mona, Vauxhall.

daCosta Cup seeded teams: STETHS, Glenmuir, Clarendon College, Dinthill Technical, Cornwall College, Kemps Hill, Maggotty High, Old Harbour, Garvey Maceo, McGrath, Ocho Rios, Christiana, Manchester, Manning’s, William Knibb