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New format for Champions Cup Walker Cup, Ben Francis KO semifinalists to challenge for title
August 27, 2026
The ISSA Champions Cup football competition will no longer be contested by only the semifinalists from the daCosta Cup and Manning Cup.
This year, the qualifiers will be semifinal winners of the Walker Cup and Ben Francis Cup KO championships.
“So this year we can crown a team winning four trophies,” shared Ewan Scott, ISSA’s Competition Officer. “We expect a lot more competitiveness with the seeded teams bypassing the first round; it should make the first round a lot more competitive and get rid of the one-sided games in the first round.
“Now teams will figure they have more of a chance from the first round, and a better chance to display their skills,” he pointed out.
The daCosta Cup, played among rural high schools, is scheduled to kick off on September 5, and September 9 for the Manning Cup, which is contested by Corporate Area and some St Catherine high schools.
ISSA, the governing body for high school sports, had its official launch for this year’s schoolboy football competitions late Wednesday evening.
Champions Cup qualification numbered among three major changes to ISSA’s format for its main competitions, the league-styled Manning and daCosta Cup; and the Walker Cup and Ben Francis Cup KO competitions.
A seeding system is now applicable to the Manning Cup and daCosta Cup, with the top-ranked schools excluded from the first round. For the knockouts, all teams in the Manning Cup and daCosta Cup will now participate. Previously, only the losing quarter-finalists from both competitions participated.
“Sometimes you have to do a little tweaking. So we are using the changes this year to make the judgment and to see if we have to do any more re-tweaking next season,” Scott stated.
“It is on a trial basis, and we are wishing for the best. Hopefully, we will be able to get out the crowd and get our sponsors excited early. However, by mid-October we would have crowned the Walker Cup and Ben Francis Cup champions. So not all the finals will be until down in late November or December,” he explained. “So we should have some excitement right throughout.”
