2 weeks ago
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While the Excelsior High school community celebrated their ISSA Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles, Deanroy Bromfield, the school’s principal, said their success was due to years of work between the school’s administrative staff and the team’s management staff.
Speaking yesterday during the school’s celebrations, Bromfield hailed the work done by the management staff led by head coach Keon Broderick.
“It is a tremendous feeling,” Bromfield said. “First of all, we must thank God because he made all of this happen, but there are so many persons who we are grateful to for all of this.
“The coaches, obviously, led by Keon Broderick and the management team that was put in place.”
The school lifted their eighth Manning Cup title after defeating Jamaica College (JC) in the final last month, and added a third Olivier Shield to their repertoire by defeating reigning daCosta Cup champions St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) on Thursday.
Bromfield said outside of the schoolboy football titles, one of the major successes for the programme was ensuring the players were able to maintain a balance between their sporting and academic ambitions.
He said this belief is one of the core philosophies at Excelsior, to prepare their students for their next stage in life.
“Excelsior thrives on the fact, or should I say, Excelsior’s objective for the development of children is that they develop holistically,” Bromfield explained.
“So sports, culture, other co-curricular activities are there to complement their academic performance and we feel that everybody is a student first and then everything else comes after.”
He continued, “The objective is that our children, when they leave Excelsior High School, somebody else will pay for their tertiary education because their skills and their academic performances will allow them to get scholarships, or if they go into other endeavours, they are prepared to take on life.”
BALANCE
His comments echoed those of head coach Broderick, who, after the team’s Olivier Shield triumph, had praised the players for their commitment to the programme.
Broderick explained he had asked for his players to not just channel their efforts on the field, but in the classrooms, as well.
“It is not just about football for us, it’s about the entire student,” Broderick said.
Bromfield said this message, and the constant strive for excellence from the management staff, has rewarded the school with the double title-winning season.
“What we’ve been particularly happy about is that this set of officials, coaches and management team are all on that page; the same page as us, and their ideas and their actions are aligned with ours,” Bromfield praised.
“They demand the same set of values and the same kind of performance in all areas from the boys.”
Bromfield also credited the work done by several past coaches, past students and past players who had given back to the programme over the years.
He also credited the school’s under-14 and under-16 programmes as well, as he explained they have ensured the players who matriculated into the Manning Cup were ready to compete at the highest levels.
“We must thank the persons who have helped to develop Excelsior football; Omar Stanley, who coaches the lower year groups, and the persons who have helped over the years,” Bromfield said.
“Former coaches, former students and former players who have come back and volunteered their time and effort and abilities to make this happen and it has culminated in tremendous success, and we are so happy as you can see.”
English (US) ·