'No apology'--- Ian Forbes

JAMAICA College's team manager Ian Forbes was in a defiant mood as he defended the school's pragmatic programme of recruiting players after coming under intense scrutiny from pundits in light of their domination of schoolboy football.

Jamaica College (JC), the most successful school football team, have won four of the last eight Manning Cup titles after a pain-staking 33-year wait in the wilderness that was ended in 2007 with further triumphs in 2010, 2013 and 2014.

The Dark Blues from Old Hope Road have since recruited a number of players from all over the island and are reaping the success, much to the envy of several schools and individuals.

Hot on the heels of his school's success in the $1-million all-island LIME Super Cup and the urban area Manning Cup, Forbes was unapologetic to his detractors.

"I make, certainly, no apology whatsoever," he told the Jamaica Observer after his school paraded the Manning Cup during devotion on Monday at the school's campus.

"It is so ridiculous. It's mindboggling. I am really befuddled as to why the negative reactions to it. If you can give a young man an opportunity to enhance his future, what is wrong with that?" Forbes asked.

"As long as that young man is prepared to abide by the school's regulations and he is given the requisite support. Some might not be as academically strong as others, but we have programmes in place to ensure that they are brought up to speed to attain at least a minimum level of achievement and we make no apology for doing so," said Forbes, who is the managing director of Sherwin Williams Limited.

This season, JC have brought in Akean Shackleford from Green Island High, Shemar Robinson from Holmwood Technical and Donovan Dawkins from Tivoli Gardens, just to name a few. There are also players waiting in the wings for the start of next season.

"We have done nothing wrong and as I said it gives young men opportunities. We have sent away a number of them and some are here locally as well as on scholarships. They have been able to secure first degrees, scholarships and some have gone on to play professionally or semi professionally, we make no apology," he reiterated.

"It's not only JC that is recruiting. If you do a census, if you check all the teams, some of them probably recruit more than JC does," Forbes argued.

The school crest is also made up of two mythical yellow creatures called Griffins which are known for guarding treasures and priceless possessions. A Griffin is made up of a body, tail and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle and an eagle's talons as its front feet. A true symbolism of the make-up of the current Jamaica College team recruited from all sections of the island.

"It's just that as our chairman said earlier, nobody stone green mangoes and that is so true. We've been very successful, so I think the detractors are always finding something negative. But we are a positive group and we push ahead. As I said we make no apology for recruiting," said Forbes.