Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Sheer determination and skill has rocketed Lennon High to the pinnacle of schoolgirl football in Jamaica.

Little or nothing was known about them until they became back-to-back winners of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/ Malta Girls football competition, taking home the coveted trophy to the hills of Mocho, Clarendon.

Lennon defeated St Hugh's High 7-6 on penalties and were named the top rural school in 2008. Earlier this year, they achieved a comfortable 3-0 win over Excelsior for their second hold on the title.

Coach Merron Gordon, who also won consecutive Coach-of-the-Year titles, said if he keeps getting the support he receives from the school, students and the community, the team will prove very hard to beat in the next four years.

He said prior to joining the school, the girls always made it to the second round of the competition but were never able to make it through the final rounds to win the competition.

Hard work

Four years ago when Gordon joined the programme, the girls placed third. They then made it to the quarter-finals in his second year and in his third and fourth years, they won the title.

The boys also were not be outdone as under him they made it to the semi-final of the daCosta Cup last year.

With the football field mirroring a small dustbowl, it is hard to fathom that these players have done so well on such a surface.

"Most of the hard work is done here on this field. It might not look as beautiful from here, but it's quite flat," Gordon said.

"When I came here the first year, we came third, the principal asked what should he give to the team and I said to him that with a better surface I think these girls can win in a year or two," he said.

The principal, he said, granted them 15 trucks of topsoil allowing his promise to come true of actually winning the titles after receiving the topsoil.

Used to the uneven field

Head of the physical education department, Beverley Smythe, said the field needs a lot of work. "We have a very small field that needs a lot of work. We need some sponsorship but we are working with what we have. Sometimes, we have to go to a bigger field to practise and sometimes for league games," Smythe said.

The girls, the coach said, are used to the uneven field as they are from communities with similar ones including Rocky Point, Lionel Town, Race Course and Springfield.

A number of companies have been approached to assist with the development of the field but to date the school has not received any response.

In order to continue to do well, the team, the coach said, was also in dire need of a nutrition programme for the girls and also for the boys.

"We have a basic feeding programme that entails getting their lunches from the canteen. Athletes need a balanced diet and the canteen system does not really provide this every day," Gordon said.

The lack of proper nutrition affects the girls and boys at times, especially during preseason in which training starts in October where they work on mostly fitness and technique.

"For the first month and a half, we only train two times for the week, after that, we train every day for the week, and sometimes on Saturdays. During the Christmas and Easter holidays, we train right through because most of the times the semi-finals and the finals are played after the Easter term," he said.

"Sometimes, I have to assist the girls from my pocket in order for them to come to school and training," Gordon said.

Leading scorer

For next year's competition, Gordon will be without two of his key players, Simone Honeyghan (forward) and Shauna-Gaye Graham (defender), who will both be leaving high school at the end of the term.

Honeyghan was the competition's leading scorer last year and ended this season with 48 goals. She was also voted as the Most Valuable Player for the two seasons.

"This is the first year I am going to have so many students leaving my team. Among the boys, I have seven. Two major players are leaving the girls' team," Gordon said.

Five girls will replace the outgoing two members and include three who sat out last year. Two are from the Cross and Osbourne Store all-age schools.

"Osbourne Store is our main feeding ground for the female programme. It's the school from which we get most of our players," he said.

Smythe said the schools programme is good as it entails a lot of hard work and discipline.

"For one to get anywhere in sports, you have to be disciplined. I think Mr Gordon is trying to instil this into the students," she said.

She stated that the programme needs to go further in terms of sponsorship as it costs close to one million dollars in terms of expenses.

"We intend to build on the programme and see if we can get some support. We are a small community here with not many businesses. There are many schools in May Pen, so we do not get the support we need," Smythe said.

Girls are champions

Principal of Lennon High, Kenneth Letts, said one of the main aims of the school was to get the girls involved in similar activities as the boys. "It has turned out that the girls are champions," Letts said.

He stated that the Ministry of Education has said the school should not invest so much of its resources into sports, but he said the school would not be recognised if they did not participate in sports.

"Nobody knew of us until we won ISSA girls' football championships as the school is way up in the hills of Mocho. If you look around, there is hardly anyone to sponsor us. So we have to find a way," Letts said.

"Every time the kids jump on the bus to go somewhere the minimum cost is $12,000-$14,000. And when they are champions, they play more matches than anybody else," he said.

However, Letts said the school will continue to improve despite the difficulties they face and come next year will be an even stronger force to be reckoned with in the sporting arena.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com