Clive “Busy” Campbell, the founder of Masters and Celebrities, an organisation that stages charity football matches across the island, is bemoaning the rise in crime, especially gun crimes being perpetrated by teenagers in Jamaica.

Campbell has for years been pleading for sports to be used as a vehicle to positively impact the disenfranchised and vulnerable youth in the inner-city communities and has reiterated his call in the face of spiralling crime levels.

“The violence has really gotten out of hand as we as ordinary Jamaicans need to play our part in getting things under control.

“The youth need to be re-engaged. We are seeing the negative impact of COVID on the youngsters. For almost two years their future seemed hopeless, and some have fallen in with the wrong crowd. We need to win back our youth.

“Events such as the Bell/Ziadie Memorial are the types of events that we need more of. We need to give our youth hope,” Campbell said.

At the annual Heroes’ Day football festival, the Bell/Ziadie Memorial returned with a feast of goals when the two-match event was played at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

In the first match, St George’s College (STGC) Invitational came from behind to defeat the Christian Ambassadors 4-3, while in the second match Masters and Celebrities defeated an Entertainers Invitational 3-2.

Veteran Coach Emerson “Diggy” Henry and former Boys Town goalkeeper and referee Clive “Blacka” Dixon were honoured at the event for their contribution to football, while the late Chris Ziadie and Neville Lyn were honoured posthumously.

For the first time the event was twinned with the Boom El Clasico, which is a new event being put on by the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL).

The El Clasico was played between Arnett Gardens and Waterhouse with the “Junglists” running out 3-2 winners on penalties after a 1-1 regulation time draw.

In the first match of the afternoon Damion English scored a quickfire hat-trick to give Christian Ambassadors a big advantage. But STGC responded through Mitchly Waul who also scored a hat-trick of his own to pull his team level shortly after the half-time break. Raymond Thompson got the winner for the STGC to complete the unlikely comeback.

Jermaine “Teddy” Johnson rolled back the years in the second game as he led the line for Masters and Celebrities, scoring a brilliant solo goal to break the deadlock early in the match. Johnson weaved his way through a line of defenders before rounding the goalkeeper and squeezing the ball home from a very acute angle.

Johnson continued to delight the crowd in a stadium where he had many great performances for Tivoli Gardens in the Premier League and almost scored a replica goal of the first in the second half but somehow missed the empty goal.