FROM preseason, when they won the inaugural Knox Cup in Mandeville, coach Warren Simpson has maintained the same rhetoric. He did not promise that Glenmuir High would win any major silverware; neither did he say Glenmuir will struggle in this season’s schoolboy football competitions. Simpson only said: “The objective is still the same. We are here to compete, not participate, because only those who compete can win. If you are participating, then you are not playing to win.”

Some might say Simpson is being safe. Others will say he’s simply being honest. Glenmuir are technically in a rebuilding phase and it’s not sure when, or if, they’ll return to the heights of the Jackie Walters era, which yielded eight trophies (three daCosta Cups, three Ben Francis Knockout titles and two Olivier Shields) in 10 years.

So far, though, Simpson and his charges have been holding their own. They’ve lost only once this term, a 0-1 defeat to St James High in the Inter-zone, and are now three games away from a potential semi-final berth.

The central Clarendon side will begin their quarter-final quest out of Zone P, which, on paper looks a stern test. They’ll go up against Cornwall College — the most successful team in daCosta Cup history and one of the title favourites. They’ll also face Old Harbour High and Lacovia High, two of this season’s surprise packages. St Elizabeth-based Lacovia edged out Munro College in preliminary-round Zone E, while former Ben Francis champions Old Harbour have surpassed expectations after qualifying for the Inter-zone as the best third-placed team.

But if there’s anything that Glenmuir, in whatever discipline, is never short of it is confidence. You’re unlikely to hear any ‘Colour Red’ faithful saying they’re the underdogs. Even when their body language is saying the complete opposite, they’ll prefer to say: “We are going win!”

Take former player Eric Vernan, a member of their 2004 treble winning side, for example. Appearing on CVM’s Football GPS a few Tuesdays ago to discuss his comeback from injury, the national player was asked about Glenmuir’s low-keyed campaign. He told the host that they have a young team. But when quizzed about their chances of topping title favourites and parish rivals Clarendon College, Vernan said: “Of course we can beat them.”

Being knocked out at the quarter-final stage will be no shame for this Glenmuir outfit, though disappointed they’d be. Not many expected them to be here. Despite the void left by Walters’ departure, Glenmuir have a foundation that Simpson can exploit for future development. Added to that, he now has the backing of a new principal, Dr Marsha Smalling.

So encouraged have the fans been by Dr Smalling’s public support that many are now saying she has the potential to become a female version of Clement Radcliffe — the former headmaster who presided over Glenmuir’s most prosperous period in schoolboy football. She’s ever present at their games, sitting beside none other than Radcliffe on the team bench. She was even there for their preseason success in Manchester this past summer — celebrating as if she’d actually taken part in the game — when captain Alex Brown was handed the Clifton ‘Dove’ Williams Trophy.

“This principal is a gem,” beamed Simpson. “She supports us from start to finish. She’s not a bandwagonist. She’s a foundation layer and she continues to help us to do well and build on the foundation that was laid.

“Take it from me, man, when it comes to sports, she’s just a gem,” added Simpson, who — following a trying first season in charge of Glenmuir — is starting to settle nicely into the role of head coach. Supporters, who openly questioned his team tactics last year, now appear to be fully behind their coach. “And rightfully so,” noted Simpson. “And that’s the reason why I didn’t allow it to bother me because in life you have to prove yourself. The only person who knew that I could this job, as a human, was Jackie, and the Almighty who knows my capability.

“If you look at Jackie’s response to an article that was written about the situation; he told them that I have the capability to do the job, because he knows that I’ve learnt a lot from him and that I also had a lot of experience before working with him.”