By Neto Baptiste
Students attending schools not taking part in the Ministry of Sports Football competition, may soon be allowed to represent other school in their requisite age categories.
This is according to Coordinator of Schools Football, Rowan Benjamin, who said they will be looking to fully implement the practice at the primary school level in 2025, while a decision will be taken at a pending meeting with principals regarding the secondary school competition.
“At the primary school level, next year we will look at it, but at the secondary, this is one of the decisions that will have to come out of that meeting [with the principals], that’s one of the policy decisions. Take for instance, cricket is not in State College [Antigua State College] so State College is not playing cricket in the schools’ programme but they are playing football and they are playing, I believe, basketball and netball,” he said.
As it stands, students attending schools not taking part in the competition are not allowed to compete for other schools. This is in contrast to other competitions like schools’ basketball and volleyball that make provisions for such a move.
Benjamin said the practice could be adapted with the understanding that the principal of the school which the student attends, and the principal of the school he or she wishes to represent, come to an agreement.
“What I would say is that if both principals are in agreement then it can happen, it has to be that way. It would be just because a parent maybe wants the child to get involved, and they just go and play or show up because anything can happen, and it is going to reflect on the school,” he said.
The 2024/25 Schools Football Competition is set to kick-off on October 3 with the under-20 competition, while the female competition is slated to commence in January, some three months later than normal. The competition will be sponsored by Cool & Smooth.
