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Coach of Manning's School, Everton Tomlinson, is optimistic that winning the Rural Under-16 All Island football title will transcend into great things for the programme at the institution.

The Westmoreland-based Manning's defeated Central High 2-1 in the final to capture the Rural Under-16 crown, before securing a 4-1 victory over their Urban Under-16 counterparts Jamaica College to be elevated as kings of their age group on the island.

"I would like to congratulate the boys for their wonderful performance. After seeing the Under-14 team reaching the rural final and the Under-16 team winning both titles, this is indeed a massive boost for the school's football programme," said Tomlinson.

According to Tomlinson, winning both Under-16 titles was the strategy and work put in coming to fruition.

"Winning both titles was not by accident. It was a deliberate plan when I took over the programme in 2020, and I must thank the principal, Mr Steve Gooden, for the confidence in me when he gave me the job.

"The success of our youth programme is sending a message that something good is going on at Manning's," he continued.

"When I took the job to coach the daCosta Cup team, as well as being in charge of the overall football programme in the school, my plan was to put Dexter Gallimore, a youth football coach in Canada and a good friend of mine, to be in charge of the Under-14 programme. That year we had immediate success as we won the rural title," he said.

COVID PANDEMIC

"Because of the COVID pandemic, we didn't get the chance to play Jamaica College, but being a former coach of Jamaica College, and Davion Ferguson, the coach of Jamaica College, being a former student of Manning's, we arranged a friendly match and they beat us 2-0.

"It was the same set of boys who lost that friendly match that won this year and going to Kingston to play the Under-16 All Island final; revenge was on our mind, and the boys were pumped up, and we were confident of winning, and we triumphed 2-0.

Tomlinson stated it was the Under-16 players who played in the daCosta Cup.

"When we dropped out of the round of 16 in the daCosta Cup by the away goal rule, the guys were inserted in the Under-16 competition, so we knew the team's strength. Winning the title, the entire school population is happy and excited. The people of Westmoreland are very proud of them, and we know we have more titles to win," Tomlinson said confidently.

"The entire team has 2-3 more years in the daCosta Cup, and we plan to win next year and defend the title the following year, as we have a good programme in place. We are ensuring we keep these guys together, that they take care of their academics so they will be in good hands as Mannings is a great academic institution."

MORE SUPPORT

Starting in January, he wants more support to achieve their objectives.

"We want to have a proper nutrition and physiotherapy programme in place so they can make the standard for the daCosta Cup. It is a work in progress, and we are using this medium to ask the Mannings' diaspora and the people of Westmoreland for their support of the programme, as we have great talents in the school. We are confident that with more financial support, Manning's can bring more history to the 285-year-old institution," he said.

Tomlinson, also the president of the Westmoreland Football Association and an executive member of the Jamaica Football Federation, thanked several individuals for their support of the programme.

"I am hoping that our win can bring more unification within the school and the members of staff, and the student population will be more involved. I also hope this will enlighten and open their eyes that sport is an important vehicle that can make the school and community a safer place with academics. We have to balance things for the betterment of the future of these young people," he concluded.