ISSA on alert for rain from Hurricane Irma

Keith Wellington, vice president of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), said his organisation is paying close attention to the weather forecast ahead of this weekend's start of the 2017 schoolboy football season.

Wellington said that possible rainfall from Hurricane Irma, which is in the region may affect the staging of this weekend's games.

"We are monitoring the situation and we will take a decision on Friday morning," said Wellington.

"We decided that we are going to see what is happening up to Friday morning before we make a final call and so if the weather is not going to be conducive to those games, then we will have those games rescheduled," Wellington said.

He added that members of the ISSA's hierarchy have already put plans in place should this weekend matches are rained out.

"If the rains come, it should not have a significant effect on us, if it is just the Saturday games that are affected because we should be able to make the necessary adjustments," Wellington said.

He also pointed out that everything is now in place ahead of start of start of this year's competition.

"We have everything on track to be ready for Saturday and for Monday when most the teams will be involved in one way or another," Wellington said.

Jamaica College are the defending Manning Cup champions while Cornwall College are the defending daCosta Cup winners.

The strong Category 5 hurricane is predicted to pass well to the north of Jamaica this weekend but bands of rainfall are expected to affect the island from Friday evening.