The implementation of the mercy rule by the Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA) midway the Alberga Cup Under-12 Football Competition will, we expect, trigger vigorous debate within the sport fraternity here.

As we outlined in our story on the matter yesterday, the mercy rule is used in many youth competitions around the world. It is basically a regulation implemented to terminate sports competitions earlier than originally scheduled when one competitor has a significantly large and presumably insurmountable lead over their opponent.

The rule essentially helps to prevent further humiliation and discouragement for the losing team while maintaining a respectful and sportsmanlike atmosphere during games.

In the case of the Alberga Cup, JISA implemented the mercy rule after Mona Prep hammered Gordon’s Memorial 46-0 and St Andrew Prep scored a 16-0 victory over Bright Beginnings. Both games were played last month.

Mr Winston Keyes, JISA’s sports coordinator, told us that since those two uneven contests, the mercy rule, which, in this competition, requires that a game can be stopped after a team takes a 12-goal lead, was used in three matches in order to protect schools that have struggling programmes.

According to Mr Keyes, JISA’s decision to implement the rule was not a knee-jerk reaction to the two unevenly contested games. It was discussed before at the committee level, he said.

“We looked at it and several ways how it can be done, but somehow, prior to now, we had not put it into place. However, since the game between Gordon’s Memorial and Mona, that kind of massive scoreline caused us to look back at the mercy rule and to put it on the books, so it’s implemented for the year,” Mr Keyes said.

The matter, as we said, will no doubt fuel debate and we expect that strong arguments will be advanced for and against in the coming weeks.

In other jurisdictions where the rule is implemented, one argument in favour is that it helps protect players from injury as the team with the lead may be given to more aggressive play, while the members of the losing team are likely to overexert themselves, beyond their abilities, to close the gap.

Advocates of the rule also argue that implementing it will prevent further embarrassment for the losing team.

The latter concern was raised by Mr Keyes who said that every effort should be made to avoid making children feel as if they are nobodies.

“If you think about it in a different way, they are not experienced. So let’s help them out because resources might not be at their schools and you want to help them out, so you play the game, yes, but we don’t want to trample on them.

“We want you to be mindful of who you’re playing and we want you to take care of your brothers, so if you realise your brothers or sisters are not up to par, then have mercy on them, help them out and make sure you try to assist in the best way we can,” he said.

The argument is difficult to counter, even as we recognise that the question of whether such parameters should be in place is legitimate, given the acceptance that sport plays a vital role in conditioning humans to face and overcome challenges. In fact, history is replete with individuals who have excelled in sports after experiencing disappointing and sometimes humiliating defeat.

Additionally, we expect that JISA will be asked to say why the mercy rule is not being applied in other sports under its jurisdiction.

The debate will be interesting.