1 month ago
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Former Reggae Girlz coach Hue Menzies, a major supporter of the Tariana Clarke Girl Power Memorial Invitational schoolgirls tournament, says he is always motivated to give something back to his country.
Clarke, a former national under-20 footballer and Excelsior High School captain, was stabbed to death in November 2019 and Menzies was head of the senior women’s programme when Clarke was killed.
She played three senior games with the Reggae Girlz before her passing and Menzies who has supported the tournament since it was first staged in 2020, said it’s his way of trying to help and support Jamaica’s football.
“Jamaica is my country and obviously I want to give back and help as there is talent here. We just want to channel it in the right direction
“We have proven that we can compete with the best in the world, at the highest level and obviously the youths are the foundation of the programme and we need to keep them going to start elevating the game here in Jamaica,” he said.
The event, which was held at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex last weekend, had many United States college and university scouts and coaches in attendance. Most of these coaches were invited by Menzies, and the former Reggae Girlz coach said they were impressed by the tournament and he and others are looking to stage something similar for high school boys.
“We had SEC (South Eastern Conference) coaches, LSU (Louisiana State University) was here, Miami from ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), Daytona State, the national champions. So we had some proper coaches here to evaluate these players. They (coaches) absolutely loved it. They were very surprised at some of the individual talent.
“We are trying to get something on the boys’ side also. It will be very similar to what we are doing here. We want to see if we can get some top high schools and bring them in and do the same thing,” Menzies said.
Mallory Sayre, the University of West Georgia coach, was surprised by the level of talent on display.
“Hue (Menzies) brought us to the event. We knew there was going to be a lot of talent here, with a lot of good teams competing.
A LOT OF GOOD TALENT
“So me and my associate head coach made the trip and it was a really good day. I didn’t know what to expect but it exceeded my expectations because there was a lot of good talent,” she noted.
Sayre said they came looking for players who could make an immediate impact on their programme.
“We came for a player who is going to impact our programme immediately and we think that there are a couple players here who definitely could,” she added.
Meanwhile, Garvey Maceo High upstaged favourites and defending champions Excelsior High in sudden-death penalties to take the title. Garvey Maceo’s head coach Lester Hibbert said getting the better of Excelsior, who are also schoolgirls’ title holders, is a positive boost and the Tariana Clarke tournament remains a big part of the girls’ football development.
“It (tournament) was an excellent opportunity not just for our school but for the wider fraternity that came out. We saw a lot of talent on display and I love what I am seeing. If we can continue something like this in Jamaica, then the future is bright. It was a wonderful preseason and now we have to focus on the upcoming competition and work hard to replicate what we did here,” he said.
The tournament included other schools such as Camperdown High and Edith Dalton James High, and chief organiser and Excelsior coach Xavier Gilbert said the aim is to keep the Tariana Clarke tournament alive.
“There are so many young girls who have gotten opportunities through this medium. We want to keep it going so others can get the opportunity because we know how important it is for the coaches and how important it is for the development and that’s what we are big about,” he commented.
English (US) ·