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Milton Hart

Black Athletes are Americans/Canadians Until the First Accusation
The ethnicity of Black athletes in North America is rarely celebrated or acknowledged while he or she is scandal-free or bringing money into the coffers of their respective governing organizations. After his/her first mishap, the "other" country in which the athlete was born or has ancestry is usually clearly outlined.
Let us examine the Kelli White case. You may recall that African-American Kelli White was America's poster-girl while she was dominating the sprint scene.
White became the first American woman ever to win the 100 and 200 meters in the same World Outdoor Track & Field Championships on August 28, 2003, taking both events in a world-leading and personal-best time of 10.85 and 22.05 seconds (respectively) at the Stade de France.
As a high school phenomenon, White in 2001 became a top American senior athlete. During her breakthrough season in 2001, White won gold (4x100m) and bronze (200m). At her first World Championships appearance, she lowered her 200m personal best twice in August, first in the semis of the World Championships (22.54) and just a few weeks later at a Golden League meet in Brussels (22.38); only Marion Jones ran a faster 200m time (22.23) in the world in 2001.
You may also recall that White tested positive for a drug that is not even on the International Amateur Athletic Federa-tion's banned list.
The following day, the below-mentioned sentence was emblazoned in a mainstream newspaper.

SAINT-DENIS, France - U.S. sprinter Kelli White, the girl with the Jamaican roots, said her positive test at the World Championships stemmed from prescription medicine for a sleep disorder, and the double gold medalist denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Kelli White's mother, Debra Byfield, was a Jamaican Olympian (4x400m) in 1972. Her father, Willie White, was not as prolific on the track as his wife but did represent his university in track and field.
I can outline a slew of other such cases of which the Ben Johnson saga is legendary. He moved from being the all-conquering "Great Canadian Sprinter" to the "Jamaican-born Sprinter".
Johnson ran 9.79 seconds - then a world record - in the 100-metre final at the Seoul Olympics 15 years ago but was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
I will argue that there is still a very strong anti-immigrant (or anyone looking like an immigrant) spirit wreaking havoc in North America. The "others" are tolerated as long as their work is construed as bringing praise to their respective nation.
In order to have true unity, we have to move away from simply tolerating and start accepting. Had we accepted these athletes as true Canadians or Americans, their ethnicity would not be used as a shield behind which some of the very people who profited from the athletes' prowess can hide.
The acknowledgement of the athlete's ethnicity (after the fact) is seemingly held as a figurative denouncement of the athlete's Canadian/American citizenship.

Milton Hart

The ever resilient St. George's College Soccer Club, enjoying its introductory year in the prestigious Markham-based St. Mike's Soccer tournament, topped the standings in commanding fashion.

George's scored 44 goals from 13 matches and only conceded 7, a fact that is testimony to the team's stingy defense and opportunistic offence.

Playing before a partisan George's crowd in the final game of the competition (against a tough Crimson Tide team), George's quickly pounced on its opportunities and was comfortably in command at the half; leading by 5 goals to 0. The men in blue and white exhibited their usual relentless and thorough style of play and were a bit unlucky not to have scored more goals.

When the dust settled, George's scored 7 goals without conceding any; and is the proud wearer of the 2003 St. Mike's Soccer League-crown.

From the initial whistle, forwards Aaron Sani, Craig Wright and Ryan Lam stamped their authority on the game with scintillating runs at the Crimson Tide defense.

Mid-fielder Matt Ono opened the scoring on a brilliant cross from Chad Chin. Craig Wright would emulate Ono's performance with a goal of his own while the game was still in its infancy. Daniel Garel, Garth Chin and Nick Lam pushed the score to 5-0 and seemingly out of reach where Crimson Tide was concerned.

The second half saw more of the same with the Georgians attacking as if they were in danger of losing the game. This professional approach resulted in two more goals for George's as Kevin Griffith and Sani put the finishing touches on a well-deserved win.

The 12th man (spectators/supporters) on any team is of vital importance to the team's success and the George's crowd that rose to the occasion on Sunday September 21, 2003 was no exception to this rule. The steady cheering and advice from the St. George's College executives, ably led by Don Barnett (President), their wives, friends and well-wishers, resonated throughout the Father Michael McGivney stadium. This support never subsided until the final whistle was blown and perhaps caused much anxiety on the part of the opposition.

The team will play its final game, an exhibition match against the winner of a Scarborough-based league, on Sunday September 28th.

Andre Bell

October 4, 2003
 

Dear Georgians:

The 2003 Manning Cup season got underway with a big bang, defeating the defending Champions, Norman Manley High School, 1-0 at Jarrett Park on Saturday. Damion Sawyers scored the goal from the penalty spot after Norman Manley's goalkeeper brought him down. The previous Saturday we tied Kingston College in the Roper Cup 1-1. Damion Sawyers was the scorer again, assisted by Dwayne Mills.

The Saturday's win was dedicated to the St. George's College Old Boys Association, Toronto Chapter, in appreciation for the equipment bags they provided for the players to carry their gears and schoolbooks. Thanks again, gentlemen.

Thanks also to the local chapter for the support they provided to the team for the game on Saturday. The players drew much motivation from the supportive voices coming from the stands. It is much appreciated that they would travel to Montego Bay to support the team.

Saturday's win was a great start to the season but it was only the start. We have plenty of work ahead of us yet. Our other striker, Dwayne Mills, was out with a hamstring pull so we are hoping for a full recovery in time for Friday's game at Emmett Park against Jonathan Grant High School. A few other players are nursing injuries too and we are hoping for their recovery also. All in all, we begin preparation this evening for the game on Friday and we are hoping again to represent St. George's College well.

Andre Bell, Manning Cup Coach

Andre Bell can be reached at email: andrebell7@hotmail.com

That Final Game -
A Spectator Perspective

They said this soccer team was "dynamite to watch", that we had to come out and cheer them on for the Markham league championship game. So Ray Chang and I decided to go. (The team is sponsored by the StGC Old Boys Association chapter in Ontario, in the hopes of attracting some youth to become interested in what we are all about)

At five minutes before game time, only six of our players showed up. (I call this "suspense, Jamaican style"). Ray looked at me and said, "Hey Dallyhouse, looks like you are going to have to play." Laughter erupted from the spectators, as it was obvious my body could only wish to be able to run like these youngsters. Much to everyone's relief, the rest of the team arrived moments before the ref blew his whistle. Two players immediately announced they had to leave at 11:00 a.m. to play their hockey final in a town 20 miles away. As a result of this, team captain Milton Hart instructed his guys to score as many goals as possible within the first half hour, and he wasn't kidding either.

The young knights didn't disappoint us. Five exciting goals were banged in before the first half was over, allowing the two hockey players to leave by 11:00 a.m., with things well in hand, much to the delight of the two substitutes.

Besides seeing a great game, the spectators experienced several moments of extended laughter, many of which left our President Donald Barnett, gasping for breath. One was when Ray Chang and Lloyd Chung took their cameras behind the opposition's goal to try and capture a goal or two. They were chatting and laughing so much by themselves, that they missed photographing the first goal. When the second, third, and fourth goal scored, this caused Lloydie to return to the spectator stands out of sheer boredom.

Another instance was, whenever Milton touched the ball (he was on defense) a bunch of us would shout "Take a shot from there Milty! Shoot, Shoot!"

Then, when the opposing team was blatantly off side on a particular play immediately following our seventh goal, the play was allowed by linesman, Dennis Howard. The Georgian spectators, (including Grandpa Danny HoLung) screamed nasty words to the linesman about not being able to see the infraction. With a cheeky smile on his face, Dennis calmly turned to us and said "Cho, give them a chance no man!" much to everyone's amusement.

Jonathan Lee, the well spoken son of Old Boy Michael Ignatius Lee, the soccer league organizer, (and who plays on one of the teams) gave out the trophies to both teams, and was later congratulated by everyone for the time and effort spent in setting up the league games, etc. Patra his mother, could only smile when Jonathan was ribbed about scoring a goal against the StGC team during last week's game.

What a game! How could we lose. The competitive spirit of the team and spectator support guaranteed victory.

Neil Dalhouse
 

Fundraiser Dinner & Dance Aug. 1/03

The Fab 5, Pluto Shervington, and Trevor Lopez - such fantastic music, what more could you ask for in a gala event?
MC Neil Dalhouse took hold of the proceedings, guiding us with great enthusiasm and gusto throughout the evening. He introduced President Don Barnett who, not wishing to hold back the evening, gave a brief enthusiastic welcome, acknowledging the presence of leading dignitaries including His Excellency Carl Marshall, Jamaica's High Commissioner to Canada and his wife Eileen; the Jamaica Consul General for Toronto Miss Vivia Betton, and Trade Commissioner Cherita Girvan Campbell and the Barbados Consul General for Toronto Ms. Kay McConney.

After grace by President Elect Robbie Vernon, the over 900 guests, already meeting and greeting in the pre cocktail hour sat down to a sumptuous meal.
And then! - There came Pluto, Trevor Lopez, and Fab5; sweeping us in and out of musical time frames, with an opulence of sound that worked magic with the ears and feet. We reveled in reggae, mento, calypso, ska, soca, bebop and swing. What an evening?
This was indeed a great Toronto turn out. Numerous out of Towner's were also spotted in the crowd: From the USA: Trevor Campbell - Cornwall O/B (Miami), Dr. Errol Reid (Maryland), Anthony Sharp, Richard Bonnitto (West Palm Beach), Keith McClure (Miami), Dennis Barnett (Florida), Ken Scott (New York), Patrick Simpson (Chicago) Howie Williams (Connecticut).
From Jamaica: Dr. Keith Hammond, Carl Chang, Donald Miller, Michael Chuck - Director Fundraising Jamaica OBA, Dr. Peter Figueroa, Douglas Orane (Grace Kennedy).
From Calgary: Dayton Chen and Michael Wong Pow From Ottawa- Junior Smith.
Congratulations to our executive for the work put out to make this a success, with special kudos to Ray Chang, Neil Dalhouse, and Michael Charley, who came through as they always do with honours.
Our thanks to our sponsors:
GOLD: Grace Kennedy, Air Jamaica, CIFunds, Sandals, SuperClubs.
SILVER: Uniglobe/BonVoyage Travel, J Wray & Nephew, Ray & Nolia Jackson.

The pictorial gallery  captures some of the revelers. Join in the fun next August and you may run into someone you haven't seen in years and would love to be reacquainted with.

Robbie Vernon

Letters to the Editor

This morning, I had the privilege to be the first to see the Newsletter.
Sincere congratulations to Robbie for producing such a fine edition of our newsletter.
Robbie, you continue to churn out a great newsletter. We know the time and effort you put into them all, and it certainly shows. Great job sa !…..proud o’ yu no rawted!
Sincere thanks to a job well done, should also go to Patrick and Loraine Lee for the effort they put into laying out the projects when Robbie is finished working on them. Great job to both of you on the production of a fine edition.
Finally, I must comment on Unka Milty’s article on “Autobiography of West Indies Cricket”
Well written article sir. ------

Neil ( Toronto)

I got the newsletter last night. As usual I had to read it from cover to cover before dinner.
Congrats to Beba, Nicole, Pascal and yourself Buski. You are a busy man.!!!
Give my congrats to Ray Chang on his award (JOM) when you see him.
As a matter of fact give my congratulations to all of the StGCOBA ( Ontario) executives and their ( managers/wives) for their dedications to keeping STGC spirit alive in Toronto. You guys certainly deserve the STGC Order of Merit.

Greg Chin ( California)

Fellow Georgians,
As usual it was a pleasure to read the latest “ Good & True and my dues for 2003 and 2004 are enclosed plus a contribution of cC$100 towards general operations.
I sincerely regret not being able to attend your August Ball, but I know it will be a success. One request I have, has any old boy got a copy of a photo pf the manning Cup team of 1957/58. I will will be so happy if that is so and could get a copy.
With Best wishes for the continued production of “Good & True”.

Tony Wong( C/O Liguanea Drug & Garden Center,134 Old Hope Rd. Kingston 6

Jamaica Email: tjwong2000@yahoo.com

Editor: Thanks for the supportive comments. Keep the photos and news coming in. All material sent in is kept on file and may appear in future newsletters if it does not appear in the current edition. Our thanks for all the submissions. Winston (Chen)Thanks for the lovely poem. It arrived too late for inclusion and will be considered for the next edition. Georgian’s see if you can help out Tony with the 1957/58 Manning photo.

Thanks to Fr. Dziak and the St.GC website for the use of some of their pictures.