Flu outbreak caused Manning's School daCosta Cup team to forfeit game - Coach
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Coach of The Manning’s School's daCosta Cup team Patrick Graham says a flu outbreak affected several players and members of the coaching staff, leaving them too ill to travel for the game against McGrath High.
The Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) confirmed early Saturday that a medical issue had forced Manning’s School to forfeit their Round of 16 match against McGrath High, which was scheduled for today.
ISSA is the governing body for high school sports in Jamaica.
McGrath has been awarded three points, taking their tally to seven, giving them sole leadership of Group Four, three points clear of Munro College.
Speaking with The Gleaner on Saturday, the Manning's coach said the illness was first detected on Thursday during their 1-4 defeat to Central High, which ended his team’s chances of advancing to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
However, he said the situation has since worsened, with a majority of the squad now affected.
“Three-quarters of the team is down with the flu. We had an Under-16 game yesterday and it was the same issue with those players. Some players are feeling weak. We have some now, as we speak, at the doctor's office.”
“This game versus McGrath, we definitely wanted to travel for it, but we have been getting phone calls since last night from players who are experiencing tightness in the chest, diarrhea and vomiting…they are getting medical attention at the moment,” Graham said.
He said the players wanted to play the game to honour the integrity of the competition, but their health made that impossible. Central High will face Munro today at 3 p.m., with Munro needing at least a draw to advance to the quarter-finals. Central High must win to advance to the next round.
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