Garnett Lawrence, the new coach at St Jago High, believes if his players bring their A game from the classrooms to the football field, then they should be making some noise in this season of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Digicel Manning Cup.

The 46-year-old Lawrence, who guided Bridgeport High to the Under-16 title in 2014, has been given the task of leading St Jago High into battle and to that secure that elusive title.

The last time St Jago grabbed any trophy was in 2003 when they won the Walker Cup knock-out.

“We have a lot of brilliant players in the team with seven and eight subjects. The teachers, managers and everybody got all the kids to this level and also at a sports level as well,” Lawrence pointed out.

“As the new coach of St Jago, I am very elated about the position first and foremost. I regard it as a very high-calibre school in sports and academics,” he added.

The green and yellow boys from Monk Street in Spanish Town, are drawn in Group B alongside former champions Jamaica College (JC), St Catherine High, Holy Trinity High, St Mary’s College, and Cedar Grove High.

It might seem like an easy group for St Jago, but it’s a group comprising many-time Manning Cup champions JC and Walker Cup winners St Catherine High.

“We are optimistic with the possibility of coming out the zone and it comes down to the players at that stage how well they have remember the training, the system and formation and mirror what they learnt in the pre-season,” said Lawrence.

But one thing for certain, St Jago will have an experienced coach to guide their hopes and dreams. Lawrence brings to the position knowledge gained from the highest league in the country where he had stints at Portmore United and Molynes United.

“The management team saw my work and my worth and they gave me a chance here,” he explained.

“I am looking forward to a season of triumph. If there is a possibility [of winning], we will take it,” he added.

“Preparations have been going great. It was a cramped pre-season. We started a little bit late and the guys are receptive to the training,” said Lawrence.

“If we put our heads to the task, we see ourselves doing brilliantly and even advancing out of this group,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence who played Manning Cup for Ardenne High said at the time football wasn’t his focus.

“I did play football representing quite a few teams in Portmore at a young age and I represented Ardenne High school.

“Football was not my number one forte because at the time it was really educational. If I had the opportunity now, maybe football would be more upfront than education,” Lawrence reiterated.

“I started coaching very young. I coached Bridgeport High school and I won the Under-16 in 2014, we were unbeaten. We also went unbeaten the next year but we lost to Kingston College in the final,” he pointed out.

Lawrence also had stints at Newland, Naggo Head, Westport and ATL in Business House football.

— Howard Walker

TODAY’S GAMES

Group A

Ardenne vs Kingston College @ Ardenne

Meadowbrook vs St George’s College @ Meadowbrook

Waterford vs Calabar @ Waterford

Group C

Charlie Smith vs Bridgeport @ Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex

Edith Dalton vs Tivoli High @ Edith Dalton

Haile Selassie vs Vauxhall @ Payne Avenue

Group F

Clan Carthy vs Kingston Technical @ Alpha Institute

Campion College vs Jose Marti @ Campion

Excelsior vs Cumberland @ Excelsior

All games are scheduled to start 3:30 pm