Five outstanding St Catherine High School Manning Cup players were due to leave the island today for Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States with hopes of landing either football scholarships or professional contracts.

The boys will be participating in a Men’s Soccer ID Camp from Friday to Sunday at the Oral Roberts University.

The five players are Marcovich Brown, the leading goal scorer for the 2018 Manning Cup season, Javaughn Cole, Johnchristof Pringle, Asanie Brown, and Ian Cupee.

Marcovich Brown, who has already competed in his last season of schoolboy football, was grateful for the opportunity that this three-day camp will provide.

“It is the first time the school is having footballers leaving the island for something like this. Normally, it is the track and field team going to Penn Relays,” he said.

Brown believes that football is now taking a certain pride of place at the institution, something he thinks is long overdue.

“It’s a great feeling to know that the school has begun to pay more attention to footballers, and also outsiders now starting to classify St Catherine High as a football school, because we were once classified as a smaller school,” he said.

A large number of colleges will descend on the Oral Roberts University this weekend for the camp in search of talent to bolster their various programmes.

“About 13-14 colleges will be there with a lot of players from all over the USA, and a number of scouts are expected to be there as well, and we will be training both morning and evening,” the striker revealed.

Brown also took time out to thank some of the people responsible for affording them the opportunity to showcase their talent over the three days.

“I want to say thanks to coach Corey Fraser, who is a past student of St Catherine High and also attended the Oral Roberts University. Mr Nigel Walker, CEO of Book Zone Limited, and Mr Joseph Halstead who is a part of the management team here at St Catherine High, and everyone else who contributed to this trip,” he noted.

Ian Cupee, who is set to captain the team this year, also has high expectations of this weekend’s opportunity, which he believes may also have a positive impact on the schoolboy football season.

“Our expectations are to go there to secure scholarships and maybe even professional contracts. We are expecting a tough challenge at the camp and intense training sessions. This (camp) will give us a morale boost going into the Manning Cup season,” he said.

Andre Daley, assistant coach for St Catherine High, explained the breakdown of the programme over the three days.

“Some of the training sessions they will be looking at their speed, their strength, and practice games to showcase their talent.

“The camp will give the players an opportunity to showcase their talent so that universities from across the United States can see them.”

The five players will return to the island on Monday.