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Like schoolboy football, its counterpart netball competitions were not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic but Keith Wellington, president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), says his organisation has every intention of giving the girls the opportunity to show their skills in 2021. No prospective dates have been identified as some logistic hurdles are to be overcome before concrete plans can be made.
“We are going to have netball as well, but I think there is one logistical hitch with the girls,” he said. “Normally, for example, the boys camp and create a sort of bubble under normal conditions, so now we have most of the boys in a camp and already training and so on.
“For the girls, for the most part, they are not involved in training and it’s going to take a little more to mobilise the girls for their competition. We have not yet made a final decision as to when we will have the girls’ competition but we intend to ensure that they get the opportunity to participate this year as well.”
Holmwood Technical High School are the reigning ISSA All-Island champions, having defeated Excelsior High School in the 2019 final.
In the same interview, Wellington said ISSA’s under-14 and under-16 football competitions could well move from their usual slot in the Christmas term, with the Manning and daCosta Cups to later dates in the school year.
Asked whether ISSA expects to stage its usual football tournaments for those below the age group for the Manning and daCosta Cups, Wellington answered positively. “The plan now is that we want to provide the opportunity for the youngsters as well, but we are looking at later on in the school year, hoping that they will be back face to face,” he posited, “and that the environment will be a lot safer at that time, so for us, it’s more likely that the junior competitions will be held toward the end of the school year, certainly in the second and third term.”
sports@gleanerjm.com
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