As the global squash fraternity embarks on raising awareness for the sport, President of the Jamaica Squash Association Karen Anderson wants more women to be involved with the sport.

Newly appointed Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes his first order of business is to develop a national philosophy on how Jamaican wants to play football.

Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake has once again been named to Major League Soccer’s Team of the Week.

The 31-year-old shot-stopper has been in inspired form for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Philadelphia Union so far this season and claimed his spot in goal for week 32’s best selection, with another inspired performance.

The custodian was at his very best in a draw at Atlanta United FC on the weekend and made at least 5 big saves to earn his team a share of the spoils.  In truth, the Union found themselves on the back foot for most of the encounter.

Perhaps his biggest and most important save came in second-half stoppage time as Atlanta found its all-time leading goalscorer alone at the back post but Blake was there for the close-range reaction stop to keep Josef Martinez from unlocking the tie.

On the back of another outstanding season, the Jamaican is firmly in the running for the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honours, an award that he won in both 2016 and 2020.  Earlier this month, the player achieved another significant milestone for the Philadelphia Union after reaching 200 appearances.

Rusea’s, Frome Technical, Clarendon College and Dinthill Technical all secured massive wins on a goal-filled Saturday in the ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup.

Dinthill were the biggest winners on the day, putting 10 past Enid Bennett without reply at home to move to a perfect nine points from three games and maintain their spot atop Zone K. In Saturday’s other Zone K matches, Charlemont got a 2-0 win over McGrath at home while Guys Hill beat Ewarton 2-0 at Tacky High.

At Clarendon College, the hosts opened their campaign with a 7-0 win over Kellits High. The early leaders in Zone H, however, are Edwin Allen High who got their second win in as many games with a 4-1 win over Lennon High at Lennon.

Rusea’s and Frome were both in dominant form in Zone B with 7-0 and 9-0 wins over Hopewell and Merlene Ottey, respectively. Rusea’s now have two wins from two games to lead the zone while that was the first game for Frome.

In a Zone M double header at Glenmuir High, the hosts got a 3-1 win over Denbigh shortly after Central High got by Tacius Golding 4-1.

In Zone O, Port Antonio secured a 5-0 win over Fair Prospect at Carder Park.

In Zone A, Green Pond scored a shock 2-1 win over Cornwall College to get their second win and move to the top of the zone. St. James High beat Anchovy 2-0 at Jarrett Park in the other Zone A fixture.

In an exciting Zone C encounter at Muschett High, the hosts suffered a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Herbert Morrison. William Knibb won their season opener 3-0 win over Spot Valley at home.

In Zone D, Manning’s moved to nine points from three games with a 3-1 win over Godfrey Stewart while, at the Crawford Sports Complex, Belmont Academy got on the win column 1-0 over Grange Hill.

STETHS also moved to three wins from as many games in Zone E with a 2-0 win over Maggotty at home. The other zone encounter saw Munro College get their second win with a 1-0 home triumph over Lacovia.

Both Zone G fixtures ended in stalemates. At Alphansus Davis High, the hosts played out a 1-1 draw with Holmwood Technical while Christiana and Alston drew 2-2 at Christiana.

In Zone I, Ocho Rios beat Oracabessa 3-2 at Clemhard’s Park while there were no goals between Browns Town and York Castle at Addison Park.

There were also nine matches played on Friday.

In Zone J, Horace Clarke secured a 3-1 win over St. Mary High at the Highgate Community Centre to move to seven points from three games and lead the zone. At the Westmoreland Oval, Annotto Bay beat Wycliffe Martin High 3-0 while Tacky and St. Mary Tech drew 2-2 at Tacky.

In Zone L, Paul Bogle moved to nine points from three games with a 3-1 win over Seaforth at York Oval. At Eastern Banana Complex, St. Thomas Tech got a 4-0 win over Robert Lightbourne while Yallahs beat Morant Bay 3-0 at Yallahs.

In Zone N, Vere Technical beat Kemps Hill 2-0 at home to move to six points from two games. Foga Road won their season opener 2-0 over Winston Jones at home.

In Friday’s only Zone O game, Titchfield and Happy Grove played out a 0-0 draw at Carder Park.

Action continues Monday with four games. Sydney Pagon will battle B.B Coke at home in Zone E.

The other three matches will be in Zone L as Morant Bay and Paul Bogle will square off at Morant Bay, Seaforth battle Robert Lightbourne at Seaforth and Yallahs will host St. Thomas Tech.

30-time champions Jamaica College were held to a 0-0 draw by St. Catherine High in their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup fixture at the Spanish Town Prison Oval on Friday.

JC are now second in Group B with one win and a draw in their first two games. Group leaders St. Jago High got their second win in as many games with a 5-1 win over hosts, St. Mary’s College. In the group’s other game, Cedar Grove were beaten 1-0 at home by Holy Trinity.

In Group E, Mona High beat Hydel 3-1 at Royal Lakes to move to six points and lead the group on goal difference. Wolmer’s Boys are also unbeaten so far after securing a 2-0 win over Kingston High at Breezy Castle. Camperdown and Papine High played out a 1-1 draw at the Alpha Institute in the group’s other clash.

In Saturday’s Group D fixtures, STATHS got their second win with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Dunoon at home while Norman Manley beat Tarrant 1-0 at Maxfield Park.

Action continues on Tuesday with 10 matches. In Group F, Jose Marti will host Kingston Technical, Clan Carthy will take on Excelsior at the Alpha Institute while Cumberland will host Campion College.

In Group C, Haile Selassie will visit Tivoli, Charlie Smith will take on Edith Dalton James at the Tony Spalding Sports Complex while Vauxhall will take on Bridgeport at home.

Tarrant will host Dunoon in the lone Group D fixture.

In Group E, Hydel will tackle Kingston High at Royal Lakes, Papine will host Wolmer’s Boys while St. Catherine and St. Jago will do battle at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.

Former Jamaica national football footballer Christopher Zaidie died on Sunday after a bout with cancer. He was 55.

Between the 1980s and 1990s, Zaidie, a midfielder, was a staple in local football in Jamaica.

As a member of the St. George’s College Manning Cup team between 1980 and 1984, Zaidie was teammates with the likes of Ziggy Marley, Andrew Price, Christopher Morgan, Michael Forbes, Nicholas Zaidie, Brian Hamilton and Garfield Pearcy. Under the guidance of the late coach Dennis Zaidie, he won the coveted triple twice – Manning Cup, Nutrament Shield, and Olivier Shield in 1983 and the Manning Cup, Walker Cup and Olivier Shield in 1984.

Dennis Zaidie and Jackie Bell, who coached Premier League club Santos, would perish in a motor vehicle accident in Mexico in 1986 having gone there to watch a match in the FIFA World Cup.

Chris would go on to represent Jamaica during the 1994 World Cup campaign, playing six matches between 1992 and 1993.

Price, who is now the head coach at Jamaica Premier League club Humble Lion and three-time Manning Cup champions Calabar High School, has been close friends with Zaidie since they played against each other in Alberga Cup football in the late 1970s– Zaidie for St Peter and Paul, Price for Alpha.

“Chris was more than a teammate, he was a friend and a brother and somebody who I could depend on and he could on me,” Price recalled of Zaidie, who at the time of his death worked as a teacher in Miramar, Florida.

“We were close from we were kids and played Alberga Cup football. We ended up at George’s and as schoolboys played for Kingston Lions in the now defunct Caribbean semi-professional league and Boys Town FC.”

Zaidie is survived by his wife Debbie and two children.

Cornwall College kicked off their 2022 Dacosta Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Maldon at home on Wednesday.

They were joined in the win column by Irwin High who prevailed 1-0 over St. James High at Jarrett Park in the other Zone A encounter.

Cedric Titus took the early lead in Zone C thanks to a 4-1 away win over Muschett High. The other Zone C clash saw Herbert Morrison and Spot Valley play out a 0-0 draw at Herbert Morrison.

Petersfield secured a 4-1 win over Grange Hill at the Llandilo Sports Complex to move level with Zone D leaders, Manning’s, with two wins from two games. At Godfrey Stewart, the hosts beat Belmont Academy 4-1 for their first win.

STETHS beat Lacovia 2-0 for their second win from as many games to move to the top of Zone E. Munro College rebounded from a matchday one draw with Maggotty by going to B.B Coke and grinding out a 1-0 win.

In Zone K, Enid Bennett handed Guys Hill their second loss with a 1-0 win at Tacky High while McGrath got a commanding 4-1 win over Ewarton at the Ewarton Sports Complex.

Only Zone F was in action on Thursday as Manchester beat Bellefield 3-1 to move to two wins from two. Belair hammered May Day 6-0 while DeCarteret College secured a 6-2 win over Mt. St. Joseph in the other Zone F clashes.

Action continues Friday with nine matches. In Zone J, St. Mary High will tackle Horace Clarke at the Highgate Community Centre, the Westmoreland Oval will host a clash between Annotto Bay and Wycliffe Martin High and Tacky will host St. Mary Tech.

In Zone L, Paul Bogle will face Seaforth at York Oval, St. Thomas Tech will face Robert Lightbourne at Eastern Banana Complex and Yallahs will host Morant Bay.

Foga Road will host Winston Jones while Kemps Hill will visit Vere in Zone N. The lone Zone O fixture will see Titchfield facing Happy Grove at Carder Park.

St. George’s College hammered Meadowbrook High 8-0 on Thursday to maintain an early lead in Group A of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup.

The 22-time champions now have two wins from as many games with a goal difference of 14 to lead defending champions Kingston College, who also went to six points with a 2-0 win over Ardenne at Ardenne bringing their goal difference to six.

Elsewhere in Group A, Waterford and Calabar played out a 1-1 draw at Waterford.

Haile Selassie moved to the top of Group C with a 2-1 win over Vauxhall at home. At Charlie Smith, the hosts got their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Bridgeport while at Edith Dalton James pulled off an upset with a 3-2 win over Tivoli High at home.

In Group F action, Excelsior bounced back from their 2-2 draw against Kingston Technical on matchday one with a 6-0 hammering of Cumberland at home to take the lead in the standings. Kingston Technical also moved to four points with a 2-1 win over Clan Carthy at the Alpha Institute while at Campion College, the hosts played out a 0-0 draw with Jose Marti.

Action continues Friday with St. Catherine facing Jamaica College at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, St. Mary’s College hosting St. Jago and Cedar Grove hosting Holy Trinity in Group B.

In Group D, Camperdown and Papine will do battle at the Alpha Institute, Hydel will face Mona at Royal Lakes and Kingston High will take on Wolmer’s Boys at Breezy Castle.

Interim Reggae Boyz head coach Paul Hall has claimed that uncertainty regarding his contract and a lack of resources were key considerations informing his decision to resign from the post.

Hall, who served as the assistant coach under former national coach Theodore Whitmore, took charge of the national team in December of last year, following the dismissal of the head coach.

He would go on to coach the unit for 10 matches, which included the successful qualification of the team to the Concacaf Gold Cup from the Concacaf Nation’s League competition.  Hall last took charge of the team in a 1-1 draw against Mexico in the Nations League in June.

Since then, the JFF announced that Merron Gordon had been named interim coach for the team’s most recent fixture against Morocco and Qatar and is expected to announce former Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson as head of the program in the coming days.

In a release posted to the social media platform Instagram, Hall attempted to bring some clarity to the issue.

“I felt I had to resign as many of my requests, such as the standard of the training pitch, additional kit for cold weather in Canada and in particular organistion for transport were well below par,” Hall said via the release.

“After qualifying for the Gold Cup and with the situation with administration being strained.  I felt like my position had become untenable.  I was still being expected to be part of conference calls, team talks, and matchday selections, but my role, contract, and remuneration questions were being ignored,” he added.

The coach went on to claim that he was yet to receive full monetary compensation for his period with the team, despite receiving a payment last week.

Professional Football Jamaica Limited has secured a JMD$10 million club sponsorship from JN Money Services Limited for the Jamaica Premier League season that is set to get underway next month.

2021 finalists The Mannings School got their second win in as many games as action continued in the ISSA Dacosta Cup on Tuesday.

They secured a 6-0 win over Black River at home to move to six points from two games in Zone D. They got a 5-1 win over Grange Hill at the Llandilo Sports Complex on Saturday.

In Saturday’s other Zone D results, Petersfield got a 3-0 win over Belmont Academy at the Crawford Sports Complex while Black River and Godfrey Stewart played to a 1-1 draw.

In Zone E, Maggoty moved to four points from two games with a 1-0 win over Sydney Pagon at STETHS. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 at the same venue with Munro College. In the other Saturday fixtures, STETHS went to Sydney Pagon and won 4-0 while Lacovia and B.B Coke played out a 0-0 draw at Lacovia.

In Zone G, Alphansus Davis and Holmwood Technical secured 1-0 wins over Mile Gully and Alston, respectively.

In Zone H, Lennon High and Edwin Allen got 4-0 wins over Thompson Town and Kellits High, respectively.

Zone I saw Oracabessa secure a 2-0 win over Marcus Garvey at Clemhard’s Park and York Castle secure a 4-2 win over Ocho Rios at Drax Hall.

In Zone J, Wycliffe Martin High and Tacky high played out a 2-2 draw to move to four points and two points from two games, respectively. At Westmoreland Oval, Horace Clark got their first win with a 3-0 result over Annotto Bay while St. Mary High got a 2-1 win over St. Mary Technical at Richmond Farm. On Saturday, Tacky got a 4-0 win over St. Mary High at home, St. Mary Tech got a 2-0 win over Annotto Bay at Richmond Farm and Horace Clarke and Wycliffe Martin played out to a 3-3 draw at Horace Clarke.

In Zone K, Dinthill secured their second win from as many games and handed Charlemont their first loss with an exciting 4-3 win at home. On Saturday, they beat Ewarton 3-1 at the Ewarton Sports Complex. Also on Saturday, Charlemont got a 3-1 win over Enid Bennett while McGrath beat Guys Hill 1-0.

In Zone L, Paul Bogle beat St. Thomas Technical 3-2 at the Eastern Banana Complex to move to six points. Morant Bay and Seaforth are now tied on four points from two games after playing out a 3-3 draw while Yallahs got their first win with a 5-0 hammering of Robert Lightbourne. On Saturday, Paul Bogle went to Robert Lightbourne and secured a 3-1 win while Morant Bay and Seaforth got 2-0 victories over St. Thomas Technical and Yallahs, respectively.

In Zone M, Denbigh High and Old Harbour High got 3-1 wins over Central High and Tacius Golding, respectively.

In Zone N, Vere Technical went to Winston Jones High and secured the biggest margin of victory in the Cup so far with a 9-0 win. Defending champions Garvey Maceo played a 2-2 draw with Kemps Hill at Sabina Park in Saturday’s Zone N fixture.

In Zone O, Titchfield secured a 5-0 win over Fair Prospect while Happy Grove and Port Antonio played out a 1-1 draw at Hector’s River.

In Monday’s Zone B fixtures, eleven-time champions Rusea’s opened their campaign with a 7-0 win over Merlene Ottey while Green Island beat Hopewell 1-0 at the Orchard Sports Complex.

Monday’s lone Zone F fixture saw Manchester High secure a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph at Mt. St. Joseph.

Action continues Wednesday with 10 matches. In Zone A, 12-time champions Cornwall College will host Maldon, Anchovy will host Green Pond while St. James High and Irwin High will do battle at Jarrett Park.

In Zone C, Muschett will host Cedric Titus and Herbert Morrison will host Spot Valley.

Godfrey Stewart will tackle Belmont Academy at home while Grange Hill and Petersfield will square off at the Llandilo Sports Complex in Zone D action.

In Zone E action, STETHS will host Lacovia while B.B. Coke will host Munro College.

Finally, Guys Hill will play Enid Bennett at Tacky in Zone K.

Jamaica College and Mona High both scored big wins as action in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup continued Tuesday.

30-time champions Jamaica College got their 2022 campaign off to the best possible start with a 13-0 hammering of St. Mary’s College at home to take the early lead in Group B.

St. Jago High secured a 2-0 win over Cedar Grove at the Spanish Town Prison Oval while at the Bell Chung Oval, St. Catherine High came away 3-0 winners over Holy Trinity High in the other Group B fixtures on Tuesday.

At the Mona High School field, the hosts were 9-0 winners over Kingston High to kickstart their season.

Other Group E results saw Hydel go into Papine High and secure a 3-0 victory while Wolmer’s Boys secured a 2-0 win over Camperdown High at home.

STATHS, Tarrant and Jonathan Grant were all winners in Group D. STATHS got the better of Norman Manley 2-0 at Maxfield Park. At Tarrant, the hosts got a 2-1 win over Spanish Town while Jonathan Grant beat Dunoon Technical 1-0 at home.

In a Group F double header at Excelsior High, Campion College and Clan Carthy played out a 2-2 draw in the first game. The second game between Excelsior and Kingston Technical ended in the same score-line. Cumberland secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti in the lone Group F fixture on Monday.

The tournament began with a double-header at Sabina Park on Saturday with defending champions Kingston College beating Calabar 5-1 and 22-time champions St. George’s College securing a 6-0 win over Ardenne High in Group A. On Monday, Waterford beat Meadowbrook 3-0 at home in the other Group A fixture.

Monday also saw three Group C fixtures as Vauxhall suffered a 0-3 loss at the hands of Tivoli High. Bridgeport went to Edith Dalton James and got a 3-2 victory and Charlie Smith played out a 0-0 draw with Haile Selassie.

Action continues Thursday with nine matches. In Group A, Ardenne will host Kingston College, St. George’s College will visit Meadowbrook while Waterford will host Calabar.

Group C action will see Charlie Smith and Bridgeport locking horns at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, Edith Dalton James hosting Tivoli High and Vauxhall visiting Haile Selassie.

In Group F, Campion College will host Jose Marti, Clan Carthy will battle Kingston technical at the Alpha Institute and Excelsior will host Cumberland.

Defending champions Duhaney Park Red Sharks face Washington Boulevard Bulls, the latter in their first decider in the Jamaica Rugby League National Club Championship Grand Final on Saturday, September 17 at the University of West Indies Mona Bowl (kick-off 4 pm, local time). 

The Bulls, who joined the NCC in 2017, beat Jamaica Defence Force Warriors 24-18 in their semi-final, whilst the Red Sharks qualified for their sixth straight championship tie - and 14th in the last 16 years – by beating West Kingston Hyenas, 54-6.

 The Warriors and Hyenas meet as part of a Grand Final double-header to contest third place (kick-off 2 pm, local time), both games will be played at the UWI Mona Bowl.

Bulls Head Coach Derone Davis said of reaching the final: “Our first half was poor but we got it together in the second 40. Our forwards are usually our strength and gave us momentum but our back line stood up, especially defensively. Overall, I am proud of the team. For the finals, we hope we can put together a more complete performance as we will have to be at our best to challenge the champions.”

Adrian Brown with two tries and two goals led the way for Duhaney in their triumph.

“The semis was about getting our combinations right as we are still looking for the perfect game,” said Head Coach Roy Calvert. “The finals will be exciting, we are going for victory and are confident of achieving it but know we need to play a certain way to win. Bulls are a good team and have been on our heels all season.”

Jamaican cyclist, Llori Sharpe is one of the main characters featured in the latest commercial released by Canyon Bicycles and which is being aired in Europe.

In 2020, Sharpe decided to focus solely on cycling after several years of competing in swimming and triathlon. She competed at several international events including the Central American and Caribbean championship swimming and triathlon events.

The 22-year-old Sharpe made history in 2021 when she signed a one-year contract with the German cycling team Canyon-SRAM Generation becoming the first Jamaican to sign with a European cycling team.

In several shots in the commercial, she is shown riding the new Canyon bicycle in the hills of Italy.

Speaking with Sportsmax.TV about the filming of the commercial that took place between June 26 and 30, Sharpe said it was a bit arduous but otherwise an interesting learning experience.

“We were in Italy for about four days, but I only had two filming days. They were pretty long actually as we had to get up around two in the morning, started shooting at about three and then finished around 12-1 in the afternoon,” she said.

“Of course, we'd take breaks throughout, but as you can well imagine, a schedule like that can be really exhausting.”

She did, however, get some time off, which she took full advantage of.

“Fortunately, I did have the rest of the day to recover and pretty much do whatever I wanted and I was even able to hop on the bike and explore for a bit,” she said.

“What I found most interesting was the amount of background work and repetition that goes into filming something as big as this project.

“I did catch a glimpse of the work involved during the team's training camp back in January as quite a few sponsors came to film for the year ahead and having been a part of this project, the experience gained is not only invaluable but would certainly put me in a better position in the event that I'm selected to do something similar.”

Seemingly introverted and soft-spoken, Sharpe revealed that it was by chance that she got to do the commercial but she is glad she got the opportunity.

“The director and head of marketing and communications told me that Canyon needed a rider for their upcoming project,” she explained.

“Luckily, I didn't have any races then so the timing was perfect for me to be a part of the filming for the new bike's launch.”

She remains hopeful that shooting this commercial will open other similar opportunities in the future.

“Can't really say as I'm not sure myself, but hopefully having been involved in this project, Canyon and or other sponsors of the team would like me to be a part of future projects and product launches,” said Sharpe who is currently back home in Jamaica for a short break before she returns to Europe when competition begins again in January.

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Dr Walton Small has been appointed principal of the Hydel High School with the intention of bringing about a greater balance between sports and academics at the St Catherine-based educational institution.

Corey Bennett, the Director of Sports will assume the role of president of the group of schools.

In the off-season, Hydel brought in Devon Anderson to be head football coach along with Trevin Nairne and Damian Howell, with the intention of building the best schoolboy football programme on the island.

But for the school that is already a powerhouse in track and field, there is a need to bring about a change to the school’s profile as a respected academic institution.

Dr Small is seen as the man to lead that transition.

"Ever since the monster COVID threw everybody online, threw students and people outside the classroom, even to this day students have not been interested in academics," Bennett said. "We're trying to build that back with our new board and our new principal, Dr Small, a renowned educator.

"He presents to us a rounded individual, having been president of ISSA and principal of the country's most prominent all-boys institution, so I think he understands the holistic approach to raising students."

Dr Small is excited by the challenge.

"Even though my focus will be on academics, my 12 years as president of ISSA (Inter-Secondary School Sports Association) will also be an asset in tempering the balance between sport and academics," said Dr Small, who was principal of Wolmer’s High School for Boys from 2008 and who led ISSA for 12 beginning in 2007.

"Even though my focus will be on academics, my 12 years as president of ISSA will also be an asset in tempering the balance between sport and academics.

"I'm like a mentor, a guide, to work with the individuals who have been here and to change the profile of the institution. They already have very competent leaders at the high school and prep school. We're celebrating 30 years, so we want to ensure that when the next 30 years have passed, we would have the profile that we really want. Hydel is very well known to the wider Jamaica for its sporting prowess but let me hasten to say that they do well academically as well.

"However, that is kind of subsumed because of sports. When you speak of Hydel you must say scholarly institution. We want to change the profile from mainly sport to mainly academics."

Hydel High has proven to be a solid performer in sports while winning titles in football, including the Walker Cup KO Trophy, track and field, cricket and basketball.

Situated along Mandela Highway, Hydel opened its doors in 1992 under the leadership of Hyacinth Bennett, who had been the principal of Wolmer's Preparatory for 17 years.

As Director of Sports, Bennett drove the school’s sports programmes to new heights. Now, as president, his responsibilities have been broadened to fit the new mandate.

Recalling his mother’s dream for Hydel, Corey said, "She believed in persons, who could normally not matriculate to a traditional high school, to give them a good chance for education, both in terms of academics and sport. She believes in giving a second chance and she believes in the discipline part as much as the education," he said.

That said, Bennett is looking forward to the new Manning Cup campaign as Hydel is returning to the competition for the first time since 2019.

"Our preparation went very well. We didn't enter the Manning Cup last year, so we're basically starting from scratch, Bennett said.

"We'd have a very few players from the past and we're hoping to build a squad. I don't think it's going to be the most competitive squad this year.

"Coach Devon Anderson and Nairne and Howell have been working assiduously not just to get these boys focused on school, but also on being a student first. I must commend them for mentoring the boys and just ensuring that they're okay and ready for school."

He singled out Anderson saying the coach fits the profile because he's a former Dean of Discipline at Holy Trinity High where he enjoyed success.

"Apart from being an excellent coach, he's a father figure to the boys,” Bennett said.

“And even though soft-spoken, he's firm on discipline and that's the type of person we want. He has all the qualities that we want for our boys. We want them (coaches) to be parents and fathers, mentors. Most of the boys are fatherless. He fits that mode.

"Discipline is paramount in building our school in sport and academics. One of the key goals of Dr Small and the Board and the school is to have rounded individuals."

With that in mind, the new principal said that the Hydel board aims to raise the performance at the PEP level and lift the quality of the CAPE scores and CSEC passes.

"We want to ensure that students who come to the institution leave with a minimum of five subjects because that's what is required for tertiary institutions," Dr. Small said.

"There's a dearth of institutions that cater to specialist students. We want to offer special education. And for all the students in St Catherine, this must be the first stop. There is no need for students to leave from here and go to Kingston.

"So that is why we don't want the country to see the institution as just sport. There has to be a balance between quality sport and quality education."

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