"Aint nobody better than Malick; Aint Nobody; We are the champions; Last year we win nothing so we bringing back something; League and Big Four also, and Intercol you dont know; We doing it for Franco." Franco being the beloved coach of The Malick Secondary Comprehensive School's championship football team which spontaneously chanted for photographer Enrico Matthews and myself last Tuesday afternoon as they prepared to do semi-final battle against Signal Hill, Tobago Zone Champions, the following day. Malick defeated their Tobagonian counterparts by one goal to qualify for the Big Four finals against St Benedict's.
One week before, Malick had, for the sixth time in 12 years, won the North Zone of the Secondary Schools Football League with two games to spare, and by this morning it will be known whether they defeated the South Zone champions to take the Big Four Trophy home. The members of this well disciplined team which enjoys "a fantastic record" of only three red cards in their 14 years in the north zone, admitted to "a little jitters and butteflies for the first ten minutes" in any big game "but then we are back to normal." And with great determination, they plan to win the Intercol series which starts on October 23, as well.
Seven players, Joel Marquis, Marvin Lee, Odelle Armstrong, Kevon Serrette, Nasif Joefield, Kevin Graham, and captain Devorn Jorsling, have been on the team for the past three years. Kenneth Franco is coach, Winston George -manager, other members of the technical staff are Agustin Roberts, Enrique Superville, Michael Saldenah, Ken Barton, Tony Gouveia, and Prematee Ragoonath.
As we saw last Tuesday, the team's No 1 supporter is principal, Roslyn Trim, who took the time to join us under the big tree for the entire interview. Franco was quick to point out that "the team has the support of the entire Malick community who supports the school, particularly in the football, it is like a passion to these people."
"One of the important things about winning is that it puts a certain kind of pride in the students, at least they know there is one area where they can win fairly and squarely. With success all these years, the school has benefitted and surmounted the negatives of the Senior Comprehensives" into which category Malick fell, until recently when its first sixth form class wrote the examinations in 2000. Two members of the team, Michael John Williams and Lee are in the sixth form. "We are no longer on this Form Five thing, one student has gone right through the school to Form Six, this sends a message to the larger community that we try to blend both, that you can come here and do sixth form, play football and even get a football scholarship. We have already gotten three scholarships."
The first line of defence in the Malick team is obviously their principal, who sees that her team gets a good lunch and vitamins, daily, from the start of training in March. And although Malick has been fortunate to have Rossi's sponsorship for the championship team since 1987, coach Franco says "Mrs Trim must give us approval for maxi fares to transport the team and other such things." For the rest says Ragoonath, the public relations teacher "we do endless fund raising and begging."
The teachers of the school are all involved, says coach Franco "they are the invisible discipline of the group, and that helps the guys. The teachers network and keep the team under surveillance and in a disciplined mode. Our teachers are very, very important to our success and are always willing to help. In the early years the teachers used their vehicles to transport the team, it is only for the last two years we can take a maxi."
It is then up to the team to do the rest on the field of play where training starts two afternoons a week after Carnival and slowly builds to four times a week, to July/August during the day in the school vacation, at "Old Trafford" as the team fondly calls their ground on Coconut Drive, with a live-in camp at the Chaguarams Youth Camp thrown in for good measure.
"By two o'clock on game day the team leaves the school after Mrs Trim gives us a good lunch" says coach Franco "and they have listened to the music of Sizzler Kalongi - the Emperor of Consciousness is their favourite, and a talk from Mr Gouveia, resident pep-talker" which the team did in sing-song "we are tougher, we don't under-estimate nobody because we are not playing the Blind Institute and we keep a positive mental attitude."
Says captain, Jorsling, "we have the desire to win, dedication and determination, and everybody is scoring this year so when last year I scored 19 goals, this year I only scored six up to now, everybody scoring now so I do not have that pressure. Anyone on this team can score."
Franco believes "it is the team work, because this is not the most gifted team, there are no household names, they have to work hard, the one for all and all for one attitude helped them so far." The manager has other ideas: "Barring Devorn Jorsling who is a member of the National Under 20 team, and the goalkeepers - Mr Franco has done a remarkable job with them this year. No one can say they have a permanent spot on the team. He is keeping them together and each time they go out there they must give 100%."
"When it comes down to Intercol" says the principal "that is where the school places a lot of emphasis, we have drumming through the school and dismiss school early to go down and support."
But in this school of 1,400 students, the Intercol boys were not the only ones getting kudos. The girls football team had the week before beaten St Joseph Convent by eight goals to one. The basketballers were champions in all areas last year, and not to be outdone coach Stephen Nimblett joined the interview: "In the male and female leagues, we won both for two years back to back. Last two seasons we got both the male and female most valuable players, Jason Julien and Gillian Goring (1999) and Gareth Lewis and Inga Stephens (2000). Goring got a basketball scholarship from Malick and is in Texas."
He is sure that "the footballers took some of their discipline from the basketballers because basketball has been laying the groundwork but there is a lack of publicity since football enjoys sponsored leagues." And just as Mrs Trim and her staff "love it at Malick", we left the school compound with a lot of affection for the folk at Malick Secondary, and with a sincere "thank you" from the captain on behalf of his team ringing in our ears, and a promise that we would be invited back to their celebration at the end of the football season.