Jardel ‘Shortman’ Williams, a promising 20-year-old attacking midfielder, is set to leave Jamaica for Suriname where he will play with Suriname's SV Transvaal. The young talent, who had been one a one-year contract with Jamaica Premier League outfit, Humble Lion FC, has inked a two-year contract with the Surinamese club starting October 1, 2024, and is eager to embark on this new chapter of his football career.
Williams, who represented Camperdown High School during the 2021 Manning Cup season, sees this move as a pivotal moment in his development. "I am really excited to go and play for SV Transvaal," Williams shared with Sportsmax.TV. "Personally, it’s a boost for my career because moving from Humble Lion, this will be good exposure for me, and I am looking to go further in football."
Though excited, the transition comes with its challenges. Williams, who has never been to Suriname and will be living away from his family for the first time, admits to being nervous. "Yes, but I will have to adjust, and I am willing to adjust to make it happen. My immediate goal is to first of all adjust as quickly as possible so that I can help the team with my abilities in the best way I can, and hopefully win the title and more trophies."
SV Transvaal, based in Paramaribo, is one of Suriname’s most decorated football clubs. Established in 1925, the club boasts 19 league championships and two CONCACAF Champions Cup victories, achieved in 1973 and 1981. Williams’ addition to the squad is expected to further bolster their pursuit of more domestic and international success.
Despite the challenges, Williams is focused on his long-term ambitions, which include playing in the English Premier League. A devoted fan of Liverpool FC, he admires the team's counter-attacking style. "The team is filled with great players, and their style of play, counter-attacking football, I like that about Liverpool," he explained. "Eventually, I want to end up in England, and it would be a dream come true to play for Liverpool."
In addition to his club aspirations, Williams hopes to don the national colours of Jamaica someday. "It is every footballer’s dream to represent their country. For me, it would be really, really great to represent Jamaica," he said.
Hailing from Rose Town in Kingston, Williams' journey hasn’t been without its ups and downs. His standout year came in 2021, when he led Camperdown High School to an unbeaten run in the Manning Cup group stage, only for the team to be disqualified after it was deemed to have used an ineligible player. Nevertheless, his performances caught the attention of many, setting the stage for his transition to the professional arena.
With this new opportunity at SV Transvaal, Williams is on the cusp of what he hopes will be the first of many steps toward realizing his football dreams.
An inspirational super sub-performance by Sean-John Curchar propelled last year’s beaten finalists Hydel High to a 4-0 win over Clan Carthy High in ISSA/Manning Cup action at the Homestead Community Centre on Wednesday.
Curchar provided a goal and an assist as Hydel secured their second win in as many games this season on their quest to claim a maiden Manning Cup title.
Despite being two from two and yet to concede a goal, Hydel are currently second in Zone A behind Eltham High who improved their record to three wins from three with a 5-0 win over Dunoon Technical.
Eltham have now scored 20 goals in three games and have also yet to concede.
St. Andrew Technical High School defeated Camperdown 2-0 and moved to seven points as they continue to lead the pack for Zone D.
Vauxhall High again showed resilience as they held Calabar High to a goalless draw and remained second after yet another stellar home performance.
Elsewhere, STATHS moved to the top of Zone D with a 2-0 win over Camperdown at Boys’ Town while Calabar High and Vauxhall played out a 0-0 draw at Vauxhall.
Young football talent Damek Rennie is about to embark on a journey that could change his life forever. The 17-year-old central midfield player is set to depart Jamaica later this month to join Panamanian first division team, Club Deportivo Universitario, on a one-year deal with an option for a second year.
Damek's story began on the fields of Camperdown High School, where he showcased his talents playing Colts football, and although he hadn't played in the prestigious Manning Cup, his dedication was unwavering.
Behind the scenes, Jevaughn Hutchinson, his manager, played a pivotal role in Damek's journey. It was Hutchinson who recognized the young player's potential and took him to Panama for those crucial encounters with Club Deportivo Universitario's youth teams. "He impressed them a lot," Hutchinson explained, reflecting on Damek's impact in those games.
The journey ahead was promising. The club saw the value in Damek's attributes - his height, his passing accuracy, his dribbling finesse, and his ability to maintain possession. The plan is to integrate him with the first team, allowing him to train alongside seasoned professionals until December. By then, Damek, who turns 18 later this month, would meet the qualifications to officially represent the club.
Damek is embracing this opportunity with open arms. "We have been working hard for the opportunity, and it finally came," he exclaimed with a sense of gratitude.
Damek's familiarity with Club Deportivo Universitario wasn't limited to just news clippings. Last summer, he had faced off against their U17 and U20 teams, leaving a lasting impression with his skills on the ball. This connection had sparked interest from the club, and now, Damek finds himself on the cusp of something incredible.
As he prepares to step onto the Panamanian soil, Damek is determined to make a lasting impression. "I want to go out there and play, help them win the championship, and elevate their standing," he expressed with a burning ambition.
Adapting to the new environment, connecting with teammates, communicating effectively, and blending seamlessly into the fabric of the club, are his primary objectives.
His mind, too, was a fortress of readiness. Damek revealed that his prior experiences in Panama have prepared him mentally for this adventure. His talent had taken him to Panama three times previously, an experience that expanded his horizons both on and off the pitch.
"It was the first time leaving the country to play football overseas. I learned a lot and brought that knowledge back to Jamaica," he said.
Mona High recorded a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Camperdown High at Excelsior on Thursday to remain undefeated in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup.
Mona took the lead through Kshaine Gordon in the 22nd minute before Camperdown would reply only a minute later through a header from striker Devante McCrea.
Mona re-took the lead in the 31st minute though Zhaine Pinnock after some questionable goalkeeping by Camperdown’s Howain Jones. It was all square again after the 34th minute when McCrea got his second of the game after slotting the ball into an empty net.
In the 47th minute, Camperdown found themselves ahead for the first time through a left-footed strike from Shelton Ricketts. Pinnock got his second of the game in the 75th minute to make it 3-3 before centre-back Donhue Mitchell came up with Mona’s winner in the 88th minute.
With their seventh win in as many games, Mona leads Group E comfortably with 21 points. Wolmer’s Boys rebounded from back-to-back losses to Mona and Camperdown with a 5-1 win over Papine High at home to remain second on 15 points while Hydel trail them by two points in third after a 2-1 win over Kingston High at Breezy Castle.
Jamaica College got their fourth win in a row to remain at the top of Group B. The 30-time champions went to Cedar Grove and got a convincing 4-0 win to move to 16 points from six games. St. Catherine are second with 13 points from five outings and will look to go level on points with JC when they oppose St. Mary’s College at the Owen Palmer Oval on Friday. St. Jago are four points behind St. Catherine in third after a 5-2 win over Holy Trinity at Excelsior.
In the lone Group D encounter, Jonathan Grant beat Spanish Town 1-0 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move to 16 points, one behind leaders STATHS.
The top two teams in Group F, Excelsior and Campion College, played out a 0-0 draw at the latter. Excelsior now has 17 points after seven games while Campion has 14. Jose Marti is third with 11 after a 2-0 home win over Clan Carthy.
Edwin Allen High School was the fastest qualifier to the final of the High School Girls 4x100m at the 2022 Penn Relays which got underway on Thursday morning at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
The team of the Clayton twins, Brandy Hall and Shenequa Vassell scorched the track to run a time of 44.64 to win their heat. Hydel High (46.37) and IMG Academy (47.03) were second and third fastest to the final.
Holmwood Technical (47.12), Immaculate Conception (47.15), St. Catherine High (47.56) and St. Jago (47.37) will also be in Friday's final.
Holmwood Technical’s Cedricka Williams was dominant in winning the High School Girls discus with a throw of 54.00m. Camperdown’s Victoria Christie was second with 44.88m while Ella Lucas from Warwick High School was third with 42.53m.
Edwin Allen’s Serena Cole, who ran the first leg on Jamaica’s world record-breaking U-20 girls 4x100m team at the recently concluded Carifta Games, jumped 5.98m for second in the High School Girls long jump behind Avery Lewis of Friends’ Central (6.05). Hailey Rios of Somerset jumped 5.84m for third.
St. Jago’s Annishka McDonald was third in the High School Girls' high jump after clearing 1.69m. The event was won by Spring-Ford’s Nene Mokonchu (1.72m) while Conard’s Audrey Kirkutis was second with 1.69m.
The 2022 Penn Relays will run from April 28-30.
Camperdown and Tivoli Gardens High have both been removed from the remainder of the Manning Cup after it was found that they both used ineligible players.
As both teams were in Group B, they will be replaced in the quarterfinal round by the third and fourth-placed teams from the group, Excelsior High and STATHS.
The new list of teams advancing to the quarterfinal round now reads: Jamaica College, Kingston Technical, Excelsior High, STATHS, Kingston College, Mona High, Charlie Smith, and St. Catherine High.
JC, Mona, STATHS, and St, Catherine High will be in Group 1 while KC, Excelsior, Charlie Smith, and Kingston Tech will be in Group 2.
Each team will play each other once and the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
The eight teams that will be involved in the Manning Cup quarterfinal round have been set as group stage play concluded on Monday.
Jamaica College and Kingston Technical advanced from Group A as the top two teams while Charlie Smith advanced as one of the two best third-placed finishers after scoring a 1-0 win over St. George’s College in their rescheduled game at Stadium East.
Camperdown and Tivoli were the only two teams to advance from Group B while Kingston College, Mona High, and St. Catherine High advanced to the quarters from Group C to complete the field.
KC beat St. Catherine 2-1 to finish as group winners with a perfect 15 points from five games.
Mona finished second and St. Catherine advanced as the other best third-placed team.
The Manning Cup quarterfinal round is currently scheduled to get underway on Saturday, December 10th.
Wednesday was an action-packed day of schoolboy football across the island.
In Manning Cup action, Kingston Technical recorded a clinical 3-0 win over Bridgeport at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move back to the top of Group A with 12 points from five games, two points ahead of defending champions, Jamaica College.
Charlie Smith currently sits third in the group with nine points from their five games.
Group B may be the most exciting as there are five teams that have a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals alongside Camperdown, who have 16 points from their six games, with one match to play. Excelsior High School and Jonathan Grant both moved to 11 points from six games after defeating Jose Marti and Tivoli, respectively.
Excelsior beat Jose Marti 6-0 at Jamaica College and now sits second in the group on 11 points with a goal difference of 11 while Jonathan Grant won 1-0 over Tivoli Gardens at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move to third on 11 points with a goal difference of three.
Tivoli is fourth in Group B with 10 points while STATHS, who scored a 6-0 win over Dunoon Technical at Stadium East on Wednesday, are fifth on nine points.
St. Jago High is sixth in the group with eight points.
Clan Carthy High beat Papine High 1-0 at Jamaica College in a battle of the two bottom teams in Group C.
Wednesday also saw the beginning of the quarterfinal round playoff fixtures for Zones C, F and G in the DaCosta Cup.
In Zone C, the doubleheader at STETHS saw Lacovia record the only win of the day with a 2-1 victory over Munro College.
STETHS and B.B Coke played out a 3-3 draw.
The top four teams in Zone C have now all played six matches with one more playoff fixture remaining.
STETHS lead Zone C with 13 points followed by Munro College with 12, Lacovia on 10. B.B. Coke has seven points.
Meanwhile, Garvey Maceo maintained their perfect record with a 4-0 win over Foga Road in their Zone F playoff fixture at Garvey Maceo.
In the other playoff fixture in Zone F at Vere, the hosts secured a 1-0 win over Old Harbour High.
Garvey Maceo and Vere have all but confirmed their progression to the quarterfinal round with 18 and 13 points, respectively, with each having one match left to play.
Old Harbour are third on seven points and Foga Road are fourth on six.
The first set of matches in the quarterfinal playoff round in Zone G saw Happy Grove get a 4-1 victory over Port Antonio High to ascend to the top of the zone on 10 points.
St. Thomas Tech had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Seaforth in the other playoff fixture in the zone and now sits second on nine points.
Port Antonio are third on seven points and Seaforth are fourth with four points.
In the regular zone matches from Wednesday; in the Zone-A double-header at William Knibb, Irwin High and St. James High emerged winners.
Irwin got by Spot Valley 3-0 while St. James beat Maldon 4-0.
All eight teams in Zone A have now played six matches with William Knibb at the top with 15 points closely followed by Cornwall College with 13 and Irwin with 12.
Irwin and Herbert Morrison both have 12 points but Irwin is ahead on goal difference.
Mannings High School remains atop of Zone B following a 4-0 win over Green Pond.
Green Island and Rusea’s High played to a 2-2 draw at Green Pond.
Frome secured a 4-0 victory over Petersfield at Llandilo Sports Complex in the other Zone B fixture.
Mannings lead the seven-team zone with 13 points from their five matches. Frome Technical, which has also played five matches is second on 12 while Petersfield currently sits third on seven.
In the Zone D double-header at Manchester High, Manchester and Christiana both got crucial wins over Bellefield High and DeCarteret College respectively.
Manchester High won 3-1 to move to 13 points from their five games with a goal difference of 23 to lead the seven-team zone.
Christiana High beat DeCarteret College 2-0 to also move to 13 points from five games, only trailing Manchester on goal difference.
Holmwood Technical is now third in Zone D with 10 points from five games after hammering Alston High 7-0 at Kirkvine in the third Zone D match on the day.
Dinthill Technical secured their spot in the quarterfinal round with a 2-0 win over St. Mary High in the first game of a Zone H double-header at Drax Hall.
Dinthill advances as the winners of Zone H with 16 points from their six games.
The second match of the double-header saw Brown’s Town secure a crucial 1-0 win over York Castle to keep alive their hopes of a quarterfinal round berth.
In the third Zone H match on the day, McGrath earned a vital 3-2 win over Ocho Rios High to set up an exciting final match-day that will determine who will join Dinthill as quarterfinalists.
Ocho Rios, Charlemont and McGrath all have eight points heading into their final matches, with Ocho Rios currently occupying second-place with a plus-eight goal difference.
Charlemont High lie third with a goal difference of +1 and McGrath are fourth with a goal difference of 0.
Jamaica College hammered Kingston High 7-0 at home for their third win of the season.
The Old Hope Road-based school now moves to the top of Group A with 10 points from their five games, ahead of Kingston Technical who have nine points from four games.
In a stunning result in the other Group A encounter at JC, Calabar High beat St. George’s College 7-1, the biggest defeat the North Street-based school has had under coach Neville Bell.
Calabar moves to fourth place in the group with seven points from five matches, while St. George’s falls to fifth with six.
In the only Group B fixture on the day, St. Jago High and group leaders, Camperdown, played out a 0-0 draw at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.
Camperdown remains at the head of the group with 16 points from six matches, while St. Jago moves to fourth on eight.
Mona High returned to second place in Group C after a 1-0 win over Wolmer’s at Stadium East.
In Zone A Dacosta Cup action, Cornwall College got a 1-0 win over Herbert Morrison at William Knibb to move to second in the zone on 13 points, one point more than their opponents today.
In the second game at William Knibb, the hosts were stunned 1-0 by Holland High to ruin their unbeaten record.
It is only the second win for Holland this season and moves them to fifth in the zone on six points while William Knibb remains top of the zone with 15 points from six matches.
In a rescheduled Zone E fixture, Clarendon College scored a mammoth 16-1 win over Claude McKay to move to second in the zone ahead of their quarterfinal playoffs.
The quarterfinal playoff round fixtures for Zone E will now be held on Saturday, December 4th, and Tuesday, December 7th while for Zones C, F, and G, they will be played tomorrow and Saturday.
In daCosta Cup action on Saturday, William Knibb stayed perfect with a 5-0 win over Maldon, at home, for their fifth win in as many games.
The first game of the day at William Knibb featured Holland High and Herbert Morrison playing out a 1-1 draw.
In the other Zone A games, at Irwin High, Cornwall College got a 2-0 win over Spot Valley and Irwin beat St. James High 3-0.
William Knibb leads Zone A with 15 points followed by Cornwall College with 10 and Herbert Morrison with nine. Each team in Zone A has two matches left.
Munro College confirmed their place in the next round as Zone C winners with a 1-0 win over B.B. Coke in the first game of a doubleheader at STETHS.
The second game at STETHS saw Lacovia and Maggotty draw 2-2.
Munro will be joined in the next round by STETHS who got a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph, at Kirkvine, to finish second in the zone with 10 points.
Holmwood Technical beat DeCarteret College 4-0, at Manchester High, to move to fourth in Zone D on seven points, three behind Manchester and Christiana and one behind Bellefield.
Defending champions, Clarendon College, are out of the competition as Lennon High and Edwin Allen advanced from Zone E.
Lennon topped the zone with 11 points and Edwin Allen finished second with 10, beating out Clarendon College on goal difference.
Lennon and Edwin Allen played out a 0-0 draw at Turners Field, meaning a draw would’ve been enough for Clarendon College to advance alongside Lennon.
That didn’t happen, however, as they were beaten 1-0 by Glenmuir, at Glenmuir, ending their hopes of defending their title.
Denbigh beat Claude McKay 5-1 in the other Zone E game on the day.
St. Thomas Technical and Happy Grove advanced from Zone G.
St. Thomas Technical finished as zone winners with eight points and Happy Grove finished second with five points after a 6-2 win over Port Antonio High at Lynch Park.
Happy Grove finished with the same number of points and same goal difference as Paul Bogle High but finished ahead of them on goals scored with six compared to four.
Paul Bogle drew 1-1 with Seaforth, at York Oval, in the other zone game today.
In Zone H, Ocho Rios High and Dinthill Technical both scored 3-0 wins over York Castle High and Charlemont respectively in a doubleheader at Drax Hall.
Dinthill moved to 13 points to strengthen their zone lead, while Ocho Rios and Charlemont are second and third with eight points each.
Manning Cup
In Group B Manning Cup action, Tivoli beat Dunoon Technical 4-2 and Excelsior and STATHS played out a 3-3 draw in a doubleheader at Stadium East.
At the Spanish Town Prison Oval, St. Jago secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti while Camperdown beat Jonathan Grant 1-0.
Camperdown remain perfect at the top of Group B with 15 points with Tivoli second on 10 and Excelsior third on eight.
In Group C, St. Catherine High beat Papine 3-0 in a 3:00pm game at Jamaica College.
The win moves St. Catherine to second in Group C on seven points behind KC with nine and ahead of Mona with four.
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