Junior Cup U9s bow into action today
Published:Saturday | March 4, 2023 | 1:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
ACTION IN the Junior Cup Under-9 football competition kicks off today at the Constant Spring Football Field in Kingston at 9 a.m.
The much-talked-about Emmanuel Christian Academy will be looking to follow up their Under-11 championships season back in 2022 with a hold of the under-nine title.
However, Emmanuel aren’t expected to have it all their own way, with challenges expected to come from the likes of Hillel Academy, Rousseau Primary and Sts Peter and Paul Preparatory.
Rousseau pushed Emmanuel in the final of the under-11 competition last year and are expected to do so again, while Hillel, though entering the Junior Cup ranks for the first time, have some pedigree.
The same is true for Sts Peter and Paul, who, while having no experience in this shorter, high-octane format of the game, are perennial contenders in the Jamaica Independent Schools Association prep school competitions.
The competition is broken up into two zones with Hillel Academy, Windward Road Primary, St Aloysius Primary and Windward Road Primary B, making up Zone One.
In Zone Two, Emmanuel, Reach Academy, Sts Peter and Paul, and Castleton Primary will face off.
The zones will be played simultaneously, with Hillel and Windward Road Primary B starting the action in Zone One, while Emmanuel take on Reach in Zone Two.
The competition also features a rural component, with teams from outside of Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine playing in a similar format. Dates and teams for that leg of the tournament are yet to be announced.
Managing Director of FYI Consultancy Group, organisers of the event, Paula Pinnock, isn’t perturbed by the fact there are just eight teams set to vie for a chance at winning the competition from the Corporate Area.
According to her, the small numbers are a symptom of exactly what the FYI Consultancy Group is trying to tackle.
At the under-nine level, Pinnock explains, there is no football and so schools find it difficult to put teams together.
No football at that level means development is stagnated at stages where other countries are flourishing, recognising talent, and creating better footballing futures.
The competition is sponsored by Funland Jamaica, FYI, Wisynco, The Gleaner Company (Media) Ltd, Sports Development Foundation, ICWI, and Jamaica National.