The manager of the Clarendon College football team, Richard ‘Richie P’ Palmer, is making an appeal to former students of the school on the hill.
Riding high on successfully defending the daCosta Cup title as well as the Olivier Shield Trophy, Palmer, in praising the team and dubbing it “a sweet victory,” took the opportunity to talk about the challenges the footballers face in not having a proper field to train on.
“It is only sad that at Clarendon College, we have so many wealthy past students. I feel embarrassed at times to know that we are doing so well with the sport and we don’t have a proper field to play on,” he said.
According to Palmer, he is hoping the school’s continued success will “wake them up and let them feel a little bit on the embarrassing side,” with the end result being their investing in their alma mater.
Acknowledging that he, like others, got their start at the school, he urged fellow past students to give back as well.
“Some of us are trying, but we alone can’t do it. We would love to, but our family will suffer if we do it,” he said.
Commenting on fundraising efforts and looking to the government for assistance, Palmer said the school is “bigger than that.” His solution is for past students to give what they can and put their hands and hearts into making it work.
“We appeal to you today; come out and make sure we do the right thing, fix the field, and meck wi look good,” he urged.
A very confident Palmer said the footballers will be winning even more trophies and cups, pledging they will be “inna dem face fi a minute.”.
“We nah come outa a it (face). We’ll be right here; expect us,” he notes.
The prospects for the footballers who will be moving on from the school are good, as Palmer revealed that there are currently nine scholarships on offer for them: one to be taken up in Canada, five in Lincoln (Nebraska), and three in Broward (Florida).