Wellington bemoans $1 million fields

President of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), Keith Wellington, is lamenting the cost, in some cases more than $1 million, the body had to pay for some venues during the just-concluded schoolboy football season.

Wellington was satisfied with the staging of this year's event, the first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes the obstacles were handled the best way possible, while ISSA has learnt from the experience, which will be used to make next year's competition better.

According to Wellington, ISSA was shortchanged during the season, with the unavailability of quality venues, including the National Stadium and Sabina Park in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, St James, which forced scheduling changes during the season.

"There is a cost that comes with the running of our competitions and there are venues that we have to pay seven figures to rent and there are venues that we get at a much more reduced cost.

"So we had to balance where our competitions are kept and how many games are kept at a particular location, based on the budget that is available," Wellington said.

He argued that the Government, through the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), should invest in the development of high school fields, as it is difficult for ISSA to organise more than 700-plus matches in four months with just four or five standardised venues.

"In Kingston outside of Arnett Gardens, Waterhouse, Harbour View, National Stadium and Stadium East, you really cannot find three or four venues that could host an ISSA game," Wellington said.

"When you look at the Manning Cup where the second round is supposed to be a home-and-away tie, ISSA had to reassign venues, for those games because 70 per cent of the schools cannot host games as they do not have the required amenities that can host 2,000 or 3,000 people with a good quality surface and lighting.

"The issue of venues is something we have to look at as sports administrators and government. So at ISSA, we are trying to encourage the schools to invest in their playing facilities, so that we can keep our competitions inside of schools for the most part," he continued.

He stated that schools with upgraded facilities were helpful for ISSA during the season. These he cites as Jamaica College (JC), St George's College and Calabar in the Manning Cup as well as Glenmuir, Manchester High, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Rusea's and Fogo Road and to a lesser extent Dinthill in the daCosta Cup.

"The SDF has done a lot of putting facilities in, and based on the fact that schools are structured and they have management in place, so it would be good to invest in schools that have already made structure," Wellington said.

He also stated that the shortage of referees was another challenge for ISSA, with many matches having only two officials and some junior competitions' games, having just one, with school representatives having to fill in at times.

"It is an issue that is bigger than ISSA but we have to do our part in helping the JFRA (Jamaica Football Referees Association) to recruit members," Wellington said.