Shamar Shelton set to step out of his brother's shadow

Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:36 PM

Sports

Howard Walker, Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

SHELTON. it is the fans that are drawn to my style of play (Photo: Howard Walker)

"Everybody was born with talent and maybe I got a little more than him. But is how you use that talent which determines who is better," young Shamar Shelton said when compared to his older brother and Reggae Boy Luton.

Shamar, 19, has just earned his first national cap representing the National Under-20 team coming on in the 86th minute in place of Romario Campbell against a tough Haitian outfit.

Luton, 23, has well over 30 caps for the senior Reggae Boyz team with 25 goals, which makes him Jamaica's second leading goalscorer off all time.

He currently plies his trade overseas with Norwegian club Valerenga after playing for Swedish club Helsingborg in 2005 before being transferred to English outfit Sheffield United in January 2007.

Shamar has just led St George's College to capture the Manning Cup for the first time since 1992, scoring the first goal in the final against Jamaica College in a 2-0 win. They then went on to defeat St James High 3-2 on aggregate to lift the all-island Olivier Shield and the title of best schoolboy team for 2008.

Shamar, also known as 'Bogle', because he used to dance, was a joy to watch as he entertains the fans with his trickery and pace while scoring 14 goals for the season. "My coach keep saying I play for the crowd, but it is the fans that are drawn to my style of play," he explains. Of his moniker 'Bogle', he said: "I used to dance but decided to stop after taking football seriously."

During the Manning Cup final against Jamaica College he went down the flank and mesmerised a couple of players with his stopovers, reminiscent of Brazilian Denilson. The packed grandstand erupted because Jamaicans love to see skills being displayed. It immediately lift the spirits of his teammates and you could see them stepping up a notch. JC never recovered and soon after Shamar was on the score sheet. The rest is history.

He was overshadowed by strike partner Kamal Malcolm's 25 goals for the season, but his heroics led to him to being included into the National Under-20 team along with Malcolm. Shamar is one of only six schoolboys in the team.

"That was just the preliminary stages of my football career. First it was at the high school level, now I get a national call and next I will be looking at the international stage and a professional contract," Shamar promised.

But how does he deal with the pressure of constantly being compared to his bother and idol?

Said Shamar: "At times it is good because you get somebody to set the trend for you and you get in the lime light as well. But if you fail to deliver as he did at the national level then you come under a lot of pressure. The main difference is the style of play, he is a striker, but I am more of a playmaker than him, ball handler, so people expect different things from us."

He continued: "He has been through it all. I want to take it step by step like him. He showed me that it is not impossible. So the same steps that he took, I want to take the same steps. We correspond regularly, he is my mentor along with my father. They are my strongest mentors."

The young Shelton, who has six subjects at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level, intends to breakthrough in the Harbour View senior team before long. "If I keep up the same work rate and standards I will make it into the senior team."

But Jamaica might not get the chance to see one of their most promising footballers locally for a while, as he is being sought by as many as seven universities all over the United States of America.

Siena College in New York, University of Connecticut (UCON), St John's University, Universities of South Florida and Louisiana to name a few. But Shamar said he will, along with his father, weight up their options and choose the right footballing school.

A University is his first option, but he would love to get a contract overseas and of course he would love to play for Manchester United alongside two of his international idols in Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.

If you were to grade Derick Latibeaudiere's performance over his 13 years as Bank of Jamaica governor, what grade would he get?
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