MONTEGO BAY, St James - Quiet confidence will be the theme for defending champions St James High as they kick off the defence of their ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup title against Spot Valley High at Jarrett Park today, at 3:20 pm.

This game is one of three on the opening day and follows the Manning Cup kick off between last year's winners St George's College and Eltham High set to start at 1:00 pm, while the daCosta Cup game between former winners Cornwall College and Maldon High will follow at 5:15 pm.

Seventy-eight other teams spread across 12 zones will be seeking to dethrone the Pastor Hugh Solomon-coached St James High in the competition set to run through to the first week of December.

Among the 79 schools taking part are 12 former champions.

Four schools that did not take part last season are back, while another five, who played last season, will not take part this year.

William Knibb Memorial High, losing finalist from 2003, will return, as well as Muschett High, Little London and May Day High.

William Knibb have been switched from Zone A to Zone D where they will compete against Cedric Titus and the St Ann schools, while Muschett High will replace them in Zone A.

Little London return to Zone C, which will also include Black River High who move over from the St Elizabeth Zone E.

Irwin High, who will be in their third season in the competition, have been switched from Zone A to Zone B; Porus High will play in Zone G, after contesting Zone F last year, while Tacky High switch from Zone K to Zone J.

While they should get by the second-year team Spot Valley today, St James's Solomon says they won't be over-confident. "We won't take anyone for granted and we certainly won't be complacent," he told Sporting World yesterday.

The high-octane St James High attack, which scored over 60 goals last year, lost five starters, but Solomon said they have players who would come off the bench last year to fit into the slots.

One player - Roshane Reid - who was not in the squad last year as he sat out a year, after transferring from Anchovy High, will accompany last season's top scorer Allan Ottey.

St James beat Spot Valley both times last season, 5-1 and 4-1, and after a pre-season which saw them advancing to the finals of three tournaments and winning one, the beat should go on.

Steve Bucknor returns to Cornwall College for his third stint, but will face a Maldon team that has given Cornwall a tough time over the past three seasons.

Despite beating Maldon 1-0 and 2-0 last year, neither of the victories came easy and Maldon won on penalties when they met in a pre-season 20/20 game.

Today's game will be different Bucknor says. "With both teams going 90 minutes, three points on offer and the pressure from the crowd, this will be a whole new ball game."

Bucknor is, however, sweating over the fitness of two key players - Jason King and Michael Allen - but he says whether they play or not, "we think we have enough ammunition to get the job done".