Hailing from the tough inner-city community of West Kingston where many young men are sucked into a life of crime, young Trayvon Reid sees football as his great escape.

Reid, 16, who is the nephew of former national player Roderick Reid, has been one of the shining stars of Kingston College’s free-flowing team that has set alight the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup so far.

“I just try my best to not come like the other guys in West Kingston. I just want to come out and be like a Junior Flemmings,” Reid told the Jamaica Observer.

Flemmings was a star in the Manning Cup leading Jamaica College to several titles and who represented Tivoli Gardens in the Red Stripe Premier League before securing a contract with the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.

Reid, who didn’t represent KC on the winning Under-16 team last season, has been a revelation so far. A splitting image of his uncle, Roderick Reid, young Trayvon with his slim build, uses guile and pace to good effect playing as a winger for KC.

“I never saw him (Roderick) play, but a lot of people have compared me with him,” Trayvon noted.

Reid has so far scored six goals and up to recently was third on the goalscoring chart behind his teammate Rashawn Mackinson with 13 goals and Hydel High’s Brad Tulley on seven goals.

“It has been a very good season so far as people have begun to know me and it has been good for me,” said Reid, after scoring three times in KC’s 7-0 mauling of Norman Manley High.

“But I am just taking it easy because I don’t want to be the popular one that everybody is coming at. I just want to go through easy,” he added.

Reid’s exploits have caught the eyes of the National Under-17 coach staff, and had it not been for passport issues, he would have been an integral part of the team that finished third in the Caribbean tournament in Trinidad and Tobago recently.

Meanwhile KC’s head coach, Ludlow Bernard, who can be credited for spotting Reid’s talent despite not using him in the Colt’s team football last season.

“I have been monitoring his progress even before he became a member of the Manning Cup squad, watching him playing Under-13 and Under-15 for Tivoli Gardens,” said Bernard, who also coaches Harbour View’s Premier League team.

“Then he made the transition to KC, and based on what I have seen of him, he is a very skilful player. He is somebody that can be very deceptive. His stature can be very deceiving and you may want to take him for granted at your own peril.

“He can be very damaging in the way he goes about his business and he is blessed with exceptional skills that can enable him to get out of very tight situations,” noted Bernard.

“Added to that he seems to be a pretty decent finisher and that’s one aspect of his game which I am really pleased about because usually you find a lot of the skilled players really don’t know how to finish,” he noted.

Young Reid truly announced himself on the scene when he scored both goals in KC’s 2-1 victory over St George’s College in the annual Roper Cup in August.

“He is working very hard and he believes in our programme, he has committed himself from day one to be a footballer. I am really looking forward to great things from him; we have a lot of expectations of him as we go along,” said Bernard.

The coach also sees the similarity with his well-known uncle who used to terrorise defenders from either flank during his days.

“Apart from the physical stature of the player, there is a clear similarity in their styles and the way how they go about attacking opponents,” Bernard noted.

“He (Trayvon Reid) can be very direct and very deceptive and he uses his guile and trickery to get by opponents. I like his bravery and ambition and that’s what puts him above good players in his age group,” said Bernard.

The wily player, who lists Flemmings as his local idol and Angel De Maria of Argentina as his international role model, wants to one day play at his favourite club Manchester United.