Trelawny Stadium opens doors to schoolboy football

AFTER many years of being under-utilised, the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium will open its gates to Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy football for the first time.

The venue will host a daCosta Cup double-header featuring Spot Valley High versus Muschett High at 1:15 p.m. before archrivals William Knibb Memorial High and Cedric Titus High School clash at 3:30 p.m.

Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Ewan Scott, competitions director of ISSA, said they are open to playing more games at the Trelawny Stadium.

“This is breaking new ground and we will be guided by how things go today. This will guide us in any decision to use the stadium in the future,” Scott said. He added that if the games attract a good crowd today the venue could become one of their options in the future.

Located at Florence Hall, Trelawny, the stadium was constructed at a cost of US$30 million for the hosting of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup warm-up matches and the opening ceremony. It has a seating capacity of 25,000, but has seen very little major activity since then as it has only hosted a handful of international cricket matches, Trelawny Major League football championship games, as well as a few editions of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Music Festival.

Dwight Jeremiah, vice president of the Trelawny Football Association and coach of William Knibb, said he is overjoyed with this move to host schoolboy games at the stadium.

“We held our first major league finals here in July, and that we felt was an effort to try and show others, including ISSA, that games can be held here. People from far away don’t know where the stadium is and have never been to the stadium but they have a perception of it. It has been said that they built the stadium in the ‘bush’ and that is so far from the truth. None of the stadiums, in Montego Bay or Kingston, have the type of road access like they have here,” Jeremiah explained while adding that the venue is on a main road which is very close to the highway.

“The minute my Major League final was finished, I sent video evidence of it to ISSA, showing them the crowd support, the field and what was done on the day,” Jeremiah said.

PLAN FOR THE STADIUM

In June during her sectoral debate presentation, Sports Minister Olivia Grange had outlined a plan for the stadium based on its location in the nation’s tourism belt. She saw it as the ideal platform to tap into the global multi-billion-dollar sports tourism market.

Based on the sports minister’s plans, the stadium which has slowly deteriorated over the years is now poised to finally function as the world-class facility it was created to be, and in so doing, play a greater role in developing and exposing the nation’s athletes.

At the time, Grange said the government was determined to exploit the full potential of the Trelawny Stadium for the benefit of the Jamaican people and that they have been in discussions about a US$550m development at the facility.

According to Jeremiah, playing at the Trelawny Stadium is a victory for hosts William Knibb. The last two seasons the team went as far as the quarterfinals of the daCosta Cup, but none of those games were played in the parish.

“That was bad, but it was on me as the vice president of the Trelawny FA to show that it can happen here. Hopefully if this goes well, ISSA will bring second-round games here.”

Meanwhile, Falmouth mayor, Collen Gager, said the stadium will be an attraction now and hopes it can be used on a regular basis for schoolboy football.

“Many of us who like football, will, I am sure, be going over to see the games. It is beneficial because football will bring unity among the students. There will be friendly rivalry and that is one of the things we are looking forward to. It helps relieve the stress and hostility that sometimes exist,” Gager said.