Debe High School has earned a reputation as a breeding ground for top women footballers in T&T and look set to maintain their dominance in the Secondary Schools Football League for many seasons. The seven-year south school has captured the National League, Intercol and South Zone titles consecutively for the past three seasons and have produced several national players, most notably goalkeeper Linfah Jones, Kayla Taylor and Patrice Vincent who were members of T&T's Under 17 team at the 2010 Fifa Under 17 Women's World Cup.
Former national Under 20 captain Mariah Shade and Elizabeth Ng Wait are also past students.�Debe's most recent success was a 1-0 win over Roxborough Secondary in the Big Four Final and then a 4-1 win over the same Tobago side in the BGTT Girls Intercol final last week. Two of the main men behind Debe's success are head coach Arnold Murphy and team manager Clive Ogiste who is also a physical education teacher at the school. According to Murphy, the decision to merge with the Petrotrin Women's team a few years back has paid dividends. Several of the players at Debe High also play for Petrotrin, where Murphy is also the head coach.
"In our first season we got knocked around but then we settled and we have gone on to win title after title. We took a decision to merge with Petrotrin and most if not all our players play for both teams. We were discovering players turning up at Petrotrin and there was that opportunity to get them into school to pursue an education and play football.
We play our matches at Guaracara Park and the Petrotrin Sports Club have been our biggest supporters in terms of finance also," Murphy said on Tuesday. He hopes a greater effort will be made to have the school ground or a nearby ground in Debe refurbished to allow the team to train and play within the community rather than at Point-a-Pierre.
The school also places heavy emphasis on the academic progress of the players and already United States Colleges have been in contact over the possibility of offering scholarships to the outstanding players. "When people hear Debe they think about aloo pie and doubles. But there are a lot more good things going on down here and it's evident with the football success. We stress the need for a balance between the sports like football and the academics and you see the results with Linfah now doing A-Levels and�Patrice and Kayla are preparing for the CXC examinations. "We also have national swimmers, we have been national hockey and windball cricket champions too," Murphy revealed. "We want to continue making our mark and provide an avenue for youngsters to have options for good futures," Murphy ended
Molino enjoys the learning�process
The display of young Kevin Molino on the right flank was one of the bright spots for T&T at the Digicel Caribbean Cup Finals and has captured the attention of a couple scouts for his performances. Molino, 20, has been at the FIFA Under 17 and Under 20 World Cups with T&T and is now a member of Ma Pau FC before Russell Latapy gave him his senior first international last month. A couple MLS clubs as well as one in the United Kingdom has kept an eye on Molino, who along with his former Under 17 and Under 20 teammate Daniel Cyrus caught the eyes with their impressive display during the Digicel Cup. "I was a little surprised when I got the first call and may be a bit nervous in my first game, but I saw it as a reward for the hard work. I picked my game up a bit and I've been enjoying the experience," said Molino who set up Hughtun Hector's goal in the 1-0 win over Martinique on Tuesday. "Hopefully I will get the chance to keep on playing at the senior level and continue my development. If the chance comes for me to go outside and play then I'll be grateful for it. I'm thankful for the chance coach Latapy gave me and he's been helping me out with some advice in training and it's been a big moment for me to train under someone like him and to play with some of the senior players," Molino said.
Villa starlet wants to be like Dwight
Dwight Yorke's name is still very popular at Manchester United and Aston Villa and it was back in the UK Press this past week when Aston Villa starlet Nathan Delfouneso admitted that he tries to model his game on Yorke and Andy Cole. The England Under-21 star said that the duo were the perfect pairing because they complimented each other's skills so well. Delfouneso told the Sunday Mercury: "I watched Yorke at Man Utd more than Villa because I was a bit too young. It was more the Cole and Yorke partnership that I liked, the way they integrated. I was a massive fan of Andy Cole when Dwight joined him so I got to see what a true partnership was like. It's something that you strive to emulate." Yorke is now a Sky TV football pundit and participated at the 11th Gary Player Invitational, presented by Coca-Cola, at The Links at Fancourt Golf Estate in South Africa last Sunday. Irish businesswoman Sinead Kenny combined with Yorke and high profile professional golfers Sergio Garcia and John Cook to win the fourball alliance competition by three strokes on 27 under par.
San Jose releases Glen
Cornell Glen, Brazilian Geovanni and Eduardo have been released by American Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes. The 30-year-old Glen appeared in two of T&T's three matches at the Digicel Caribbean Cup and is now on the search for a new club. "I could look at the possibility of taking a break from international football if it is that I have to focus more on my club career. I've sacrificed a lot to play international football and having to come back from a couple of injuries also has hampered my form. I'll look at the options available for the next season," Glen said. Shaun Fuentes is the media officer for Soca Warriors/TTFF