No 'Tappa', no problem - St James looking to move on without Whitmore

Former daCosta Cup champions St James High School will this year, for the first time in approximately five years, not have national senior men's team head coach and past student Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore on their bench as head coach.

St James High will kick off their 2018 ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup season this afternoon against Green Pond High School at Jarret Park at 3, with a new man in charge of the 2008 champions.

Garfield Anderson believes that despite the change and the young squad at his disposal, St James will be looking to be competitive in the competition to advance from the group and see how far their path leads.

"You can expect a competitive St James High as usual. We will strive to do our best to advance from Zone A and this season is no different," said Anderson. "We are not putting any pressure on the youngsters ... we have lost a few players. We have a competitive squad nonetheless, as we have a few experienced players from last season, so we intend to acquit ourselves well."

MISSING THE INFLUENCE

In addition to missing the influence of Whitmore, St James will also be without last year's captain Calwayne Allen, who has transferred to Jamaica College.

"I think we have retained about six players or there about from the previous squad, so basically the nucleus of our team will build around these players with the injection of the youngsters who are coming into the squad for the first time. I think we have a rounded squad nonetheless," said Anderson.

"Currently some of them are under -16 players, so that will give an indication of how young the squad is. A few of them were under-16 last year, have now made the transition and are looking forward to their first daCosta Cup season," he added.

The day will also feature 11 other games in the daCosta Cup across five zones.

Fixtures

St James v Green Pond

Cornwall College v Irwin

Merlene Ottey v Hopewell

Frome v Cambridge

Cedric Titus v Herbert Morrison

Spot Valley v Holland

William Knibb v Muschett

*Home teams are named first.

All matches start at 3:30 p.m.