Ousted Holy Trinity still have reasons to celebrate

WHILE THEIR performances this season have seen them falling out of contention for a spot in the second round of the ISSA Manning Cup, Holy Trinity High School have still found reasons to be in a celebratory mood.

Holy Trinity sit third in Zone G of the ISSA Manning Cup on seven points, trailing behind St George’s College (STGC) and St Catherine High, both tied atop on 19.

With only one game left to play this season, Holy Trinity have already been eliminated at the first round as they are out of contention for a top-two finish in the zone as well as a possible best third-place spot.

Despite this, the school has had much to celebrate these past few weeks and have seen hope for their football programme.

Head coach Delano Campbell said that with the majority of his players aged 16 and under, he expects this team to develop into a competitive squad in the next few years.

He said that with several of his players taking their first steps into competitive football, this season was used for gaining experience and testing their quality against some of the competition’s best teams.

“This is a very young team, a very new team, and most of these boys don’t have any connection to clubs or anything like that, so it is really schoolboy football they are using as their development,” Campbell explained.

“The mental side of their game will have to improve because some of them would have thought they were ready to match up against the bigger boys, and the reality is that they would now have seen that they are far off. So definitely, for the boys and for the school, we have a long-term programme in place to ensure that their development continues.”

Holy Trinity have made major strides in their long-term programme, which includes bringing schoolboy football to the school grounds for the first time ever.

Before this season, Holy Trinity would often play their home matches at the Bell Chung Oval or at the Alpha Institute.

They welcomed STGC in the first home match at their George Headley Drive address on October 5 before recording their maiden home win in a 1-0 victory over Papine High on Friday.

Campbell welcomed the change as he feels it is a major boost to the programme to have the team playing in front of their supporters and classmates.

“This was the prerogative of the group, and that was my objective to the management team - that we need to be playing games at the school. You can see the zealous support of the students in the school, and we want that support.

“I think it will do good for us, especially for our programme, because, of course, it is going to be utilising the field as well. So it all goes good for the programme to have your home base, to have the crowd around you supporting you.”

Another voice in resounding support of the change is Holy Trinity’s principal, the Reverend Father Carl Clarke.

One of the most vociferous supporters on the sideline during the school’s historic win over Papine, Clarke said hosting games at the school field is a major symbol of school pride as it will bring students together in support of positive change for the school.

This change also comes in time, with the school acquiring their first-ever school bus, another major win for the school’s sports programme.

“This is, in fact, a very great experience for us. I have been here as principal for five years, and one of the things that we’ have set out from day one to do is to see if we’re going to be rebuilding our sports programme. Then we must have a field.

“I think this is a season of grace and our season of success because not only have we worked on the field, but this year is also the first time in the history of the school we have a school bus. It is the pride and the joy of our students to see our school bus, a symbol of our maturity.”