Walker, Brown named schoolboy MVPs
ASAHANI Walker, who led Jamaica College (JC) to their first ever ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel schoolboy ‘triple crown’ and Brian Brown of daCosta Cup champions Rusea’s High were named the Most Valuable Players (MVP) of their respective competitions at an awards ceremony at the Terra Nova Hotel yesterday.
JC won the Manning Cup, Walker Cup KO and All-Island Olivier Shield titles, while Rusea’s copped the daCosta Cup.
The other schoolboy title on offer, the Ben Francis KO, was won by St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS).
Both players were naturally happy for the honour and said they hoped it would help further their careers.
Walker, who also gave the vote of thanks, said he is eyeing a scholarship at an American college and said the MVP award could help.
“When a scout is looking at a player they want to know what individual award you got other than what the tean has achieved, and this will be a plus in everyone’s mind,” he argued.
Brown said he was hoping for an invitation to the National Under-20 team that is preparing for a CONCACAF tournament later this year and said the award should help in this regard.
Meanwhile, George Forbes, competitions coordinator for ISSA, confirmed that at least one more zone would be added to the Manning Cup competition next season following complaints of overwork of the players due to bad weather last season.
Presently there are six groups in the first round and Forbes said, “There will be a minimum of seven zones next year.”
Two weeks of rain forced the organisers to reschedule games in close proximity and some schools played as many as three matches in an eight-day span, leading to the outcry.
In the other individual awards, Brown of Rusea’s claimed the trophies for most goals scored in the daCosta Cup (20) and shared the Golden Boot Award with St James High’s Allan Ottey after each scored nine after the first round ended.
Excelsior High’s Neco Brett also scored 20 goals and was named the Manning Cup’s top overall scorer, while the Golden Boot Award was shared by Bridgeport’s Jamiel Hardware and Norman Manley’s Deon Phillips.
Waterford High were also named the Most Disciplined schoolboy team.
Awards also went to JC for being the most attacking team in the Manning Cup with 58 goals, as well as the best defensive after conceding only seven goals.
Manchester High with 49 goals and Rusea’s with one goal against won the equivalent awards in the daCosta Cup competition.
