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ISSA goes hi-tech
ISSA goes hi-tech
Paul Reid
Saturday, June 28, 2008
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - The nearly 100-year-old Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) is slowly easing into the technology age with the computerisation of registration for all their activities starting with the schoolboys football season set to start in early September.
At two meetings this week, one at the GC Foster College in Angels, St Catherine for the Corporate Area-based institutions and another at Manchester High in Mandeville on Wednesday for rural areas schools, the new computer system was introduced to the over 200 schools that are part of the body that started back in 1910.
George Forbes, Competitions Secretary for ISSA, said at Manchester High on Wednesday that "essentially what we are trying to do is computerise everything at ISSA". "The schools can go online to access all registration forms for all the different disciplines and also to register and access all match cards, everything," he explained.
The system, he noted, should be up and fully operational by September when the new school term gets underway.
This, Forbes said, would significantly lessen the time and travelling it takes for representatives of the various schools that are taking part in the various competitions run by ISSA to get their registrations done. "It makes for a lot less work and less travelling as coaches/managers won't have to drive all the way to Kingston from where they are," said Forbes.
Jermaine Thomas, an internet technology expert who designed and will run the system on behalf of ISSA, was at Manchester High on Wednesday where he explained the simple procedures to the various coaches, managers and principals who were on hand.
Based on the procedure outlined, each school is given a username and password, but once they log on for the first time would create a unique password, which they will use to access the system.
"Once they have logged on and registered we get an email to say the school has registered and then we check the system to confirm this," noted Forbes.
He said the system has been configured to prevent the registration of over-aged students. "It is structured that over-aged athletes will not be accepted by the system. Once they are entered for a particular age group event, if the date of birth falls outside of the parameters, the system will not accept that entry."
Forbes added that "once the child reaches the maximum age to compete in ISSA competitions, their names will be automatically deleted from the system."
There will still be need for representatives for the schools to visit the ISSA offices, however, as Forbes said, birth certificate checks for students taking part in events for the first time must still be done manually.
Paul Reid
Saturday, June 28, 2008
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - The nearly 100-year-old Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) is slowly easing into the technology age with the computerisation of registration for all their activities starting with the schoolboys football season set to start in early September.
At two meetings this week, one at the GC Foster College in Angels, St Catherine for the Corporate Area-based institutions and another at Manchester High in Mandeville on Wednesday for rural areas schools, the new computer system was introduced to the over 200 schools that are part of the body that started back in 1910.
George Forbes, Competitions Secretary for ISSA, said at Manchester High on Wednesday that "essentially what we are trying to do is computerise everything at ISSA". "The schools can go online to access all registration forms for all the different disciplines and also to register and access all match cards, everything," he explained.
The system, he noted, should be up and fully operational by September when the new school term gets underway.
This, Forbes said, would significantly lessen the time and travelling it takes for representatives of the various schools that are taking part in the various competitions run by ISSA to get their registrations done. "It makes for a lot less work and less travelling as coaches/managers won't have to drive all the way to Kingston from where they are," said Forbes.
Jermaine Thomas, an internet technology expert who designed and will run the system on behalf of ISSA, was at Manchester High on Wednesday where he explained the simple procedures to the various coaches, managers and principals who were on hand.
Based on the procedure outlined, each school is given a username and password, but once they log on for the first time would create a unique password, which they will use to access the system.
"Once they have logged on and registered we get an email to say the school has registered and then we check the system to confirm this," noted Forbes.
He said the system has been configured to prevent the registration of over-aged students. "It is structured that over-aged athletes will not be accepted by the system. Once they are entered for a particular age group event, if the date of birth falls outside of the parameters, the system will not accept that entry."
Forbes added that "once the child reaches the maximum age to compete in ISSA competitions, their names will be automatically deleted from the system."
There will still be need for representatives for the schools to visit the ISSA offices, however, as Forbes said, birth certificate checks for students taking part in events for the first time must still be done manually.
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