‘Tegat’ Davis blasts schoolboy football format

FERNCOURT High Head Coach Paul “Tegat” Davis has criticised the current format of schoolboy football, arguing that the reduced number of matches is limiting opportunities for players to develop and compete against the best teams. Davis, who is strongly opposed to the changes, described the format as “ridiculous”, and warned that teams could spend months preparing for a season only to have their campaign end after just six matches. “In my zone, Ferncourt have six games, so you play six games.

One month of football,” Davis told the Jamaica Observer. The veteran coach believes the traditional home-and-away format provided greater value to players and schools because teams had longer seasons and more opportunities to test themselves against different levels of opposition. “Normally, you’d play home and away, home and away, so maybe you play until October, November,” he said.

Davis, 64, played professionally in Israel for Maccabi Netanya and Beitar Jerusalem between 1986 and 1990. He also played for Seba United locally before moving into coaching, guiding Montego Bay United, Arnett Gardens and Mount Pleasant Academy. He is particularly concerned about the amount of preparation involved before the competition begins, compared with the number of games some teams will ultimately play.

He pointed to a scenario in which schools could train for four months, play six matches over a single month, and then be finished if they fail to advance. “So now, if some schools don’t make it at the first round after training for four months [they] then play six games in one month and that’s it,” he said. “So this is ridiculous.” The Ferncourt coach also questioned whether the new structure gives lesser-ranked schools enough opportunities to challenge the established powerhouses of schoolboy football.

Davis believes those matches are an important part of the competition because they can produce unexpected results while also giving young players experience against elite opposition. “You know, when the lesser team play against a big team sometimes the big team don’t make it, you know, they lose,” he said. Bullcrap.” Davis believes the absence of divisions or a system that allows teams to continue playing regardless of their early results is hurting the overall quality …