Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

This season's urban area Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning Cup football competition was, for the most part, a success, says St George's College coach, Neville 'Bertis' Bell.

Bell, whose charges took home the coveted Corporate Area Manning Cup title and reached the final of the Walker Cup KO, said apart from a few incidents where there were security breaches, sub-standard playing surfaces and difficult match schedules, ISSA for the most part got it right, and come next season, with a few minor adjustments, it could get better.

"It can't be easy to run two competitions with over 100 teams. Some people will knock them for not doing this and not doing that, some of which are legitimate, but for the most part I think they have done a good job and are getting it right," said Bell, when asked to give his views about the staging of the competition this season.

Bell also said he was impressed with the standard of coaching in the league and this augurs well for the development of football locally. However, he bemoaned the fact that some playing surfaces are appalling.

"I think the coaching has improved with more teams having qualified coaches and, as a result, teams are playing more organised," said Bell, who also guided St George's to the all-island Olivier Shield title for the second year running.

Disappointed

"But I am disappointed with some of the surfaces we have to play on, and some of the security for players and officials at some of the venues that we have to go to. I think that if surfaces are substandard ISSA should not allow any football to be played on them," Bell explained.

He added: "I believe that if schools are told that if they don't have quality surfaces they will not be allowed to play on them, then eventually they will put things in place to improve their fields. I personally believe that a surface is about 30 per cent of a team's game, as we at St George's, whenever we play on quality surfaces, we play our best football."

Meanwhile, as it relates to the format of the respective urban area competitions, the three-time Manning Cup championship coach says he is OK with the structure of the Manning Cup, but believes the Walker Cup KO should be opened up to accommodate all teams.

"I think all the teams should play in the Walker Cup. Right now it's three rounds and three playing days. I think this could be improved to four or five playing days, which would allow every team to get a chance. The Walker Cup should also be run concurrently with the league," he said.