Fans happy to be back at schoolboy football matches

The schoolboy football season returned with thousands of people in the stands at Sabina Park for the opening matches last Saturday, and it was an atmosphere many fans enjoyed as they have been kept away for the past two years by restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goalkeeper for defending champions Kingston College, Tajarie Lee, said this made his first game exciting.

“I was a bit nervous at first because I’ve never really experienced that kind of crowd, because I used to play Under-14 and Under-16 and there’s not a lot of people at those games. As the game (Saturday’s) went by, I got to like the fans and it was a great feeling,” Lee said.

After defeating Calabar High 5-1 in their opening match, Lee said he believes his school will retain the title and he is looking forward to more matches with the crowd.

“You know Kingston College have a big fan base,” Lee said,

Former Calabar student Rohan White came to the match decked out in his school colours and, although he said he was disappointed in his team’s opening match, he loved the vibes in the crowd.

“I know they can play better football than that, so I think coach Andrew Price will regroup and revamp and we will come back. I expect us to come out of the zone,” White said. “The atmosphere (at the venue) was good, even though we lost, I enjoyed the Garvey Maceo High versus Kemps Hill High daCosta Cup match,”

Past student of Kemps Hill High, Jerome Palmer, said he was very elated to see his school holding defending daCosta Cup champions Garvey Maceo High to a 2-2 draw.

Palmer said he would love to see similar size crowds at daCosta Cup games throughout the season.

support

“The crowd (at Sabina Park) is really large, the support is there for all the other teams. Going onward in the season, they (daCosta Cup schools) will get more support,” Palmer said.

He said he would support the idea of more daCosta Cup games being played in Kingston.

“Kingston has the better fields,” Palmer said.

The last match saw St George’s College blanking Ardenne High School 6-0, but a St George’s fan and old boy, who wanted to be known as ‘Kemo’, said he expected them to perform better.

“It’s the first match, so just give them some time to get back used to the crowd,” Kemo said. He added that he was happy to see that fans remained for the late match although many are concerned about the high crime rate in Jamaica.

“Remember the crowd hasn’t been at matches for a couple years now, so even people like myself want back that feeling,” the St George’s fan said.

The venue also had fans from schools who were not lined up to play on the day, such as ‘Jahda’ who is a football fan and former student of Jamaica College.

“We’re just glad for the season to be back (with spectators) and we hope the season progresses well,” Jahda said.