Ben Francis Cup and Walker Cup the way to Super Cup this year

Photo: Christina Taylor, Group Marketing Manager for the ATL Automotive Group, Stephen Miller, Sponsorship and Events Manager at FLOW, Carlo Redwood, Vice President of Marketing and TV at FLOW Dr. Walton Small, President of ISSA, Hope McMillan of Scotia Bank Andrei Roper Marketing Manager at KFC. (Leo Hudson photo)

There has been a raft of changes for this year’s staging of the ISSA/FLOW Super Cup. The much talked about premier schoolboy football knock-out competition was introduced by the competition’s main sponsor FLOW four years ago and has become a symbol of supremacy among the competing schools.

In the first three years of the competition, sixteen schools vied for the trophy, eight from the urban area Manning Cup competition and eight from the rural area DaCosta Cup competition. However, with there being a call for a reduction in the number of games being played by the schoolboys, FLOW has reduced the competition by one round by cutting the number of participating teams in half.

This means that the competition will begin with a quarter final round as against the usual round of sixteen and run for a three week period as against the usual four weeks. A fourth champion will be crowned in four year after defending champions Wolmer’s Boys were dumped out of the Manning Cup at the second round stage. Jamaica College were the first champions and St. Georges College the second. There is yet to be a DaCosta Cup team crowned champion in this particular competition. 

This year, qualification for the competition will not come from the usual Manning Cup and DaCosta Cup competitions, but from the original knock out competitions, the Ben Francis Cup (rural) and Walker Cup (urban). The semifinalists from these two competitions will begin the quest for the trophy and a $1million dollar cash prize on Friday November 10th and Saturday November 11th on Super Cup weekend. The final will be contested on Saturday November 25th at either the Catherine Hall Stadium or Sabina Park.

The cost to go into the venues will be $500 at Sabina Park (North Stand and George Headley) and $500 for bleachers and $1000 for grand stand at the Catherine Hall Stadium where the competition begins. Tickets can be purchased at the Fairview Flow Store in Montego Bay and the Carlton store on Half-Way-Tree Road.