CHAMPIONS, CHAMPIONS!
The thunderous stomps of hundreds of feet welcomed Hayley Matthews and Sada Williams to Harrison College yesterday.
Morning assembly on the first day of the new term ushered in the celebration of the school’s champions in cricket, athletics, chess and swimming, and other sports.
In his feature address on the Harrison College Foundation for Creative Sporting Excellence, first vice president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and former student of Harrison College, Deighton Smith, encouraged students to continue to strive for excellence, combining academics and creative and sporting ability.
“Imagine if we created an environment in which just like academics we were able to nurture artistic and sporting talent so that we could bring out the very best from the beginning to the end,” he said.
Smith added that the foundation was designed to pay special attention to the maintenance of performing and training facilities, provide finances for training programmes as well for teachers and trainers who would do their best to ensure those who were talented in those areas would have the opportunity to excel.
He said that through the years, immense talent other than academics had passed through the school, including the musical talents of Nicholas Branker and the athletics talent of Olympic bronze medallist Obadele Thompson, to name just two. He told the students that they too must discover the talents within them.
Matthews, the winner of the Player-of-the-Match award in the final of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, said she was extremely thankful she was able to perform to the best of her ability to make her country proud.
However, the 18-year-old said her performance which contributed to West Indies senior women winning the title was not only for the West Indies.
“What I did was not just for the West Indies, not just for the region, but I did this for my school,” she said with a heartfelt smile.
Double CARIFTA Games gold medallist Sada Williams is congratulated by Harrison College principal Juanita Wade. In the background are swimmers McCallum Clarke (partly hidden) and Nkosi Dunwoody.
Williams, a double gold medallist at the CARIFTA Games in Grenada, encouraged the students to always give their all.
“Sometimes all we see are successes in others, including myself, but if you don’t give your all you won’t succeed.
“This is what I have pledged to do my entire life. It is not always easy but what I can guarantee you is that I will always give 100 per cent,” she said.
The winner of the Under-20 girls’ 200 metres and 200 metres said she was thankful to God for giving her the talent and for all the support that she received from her mother, coach, principal, school and her island home Barbados. (RG)