Football is the gateway to success for Denham Town High's goalkeeper Brian Bennett

He might not have been team captain in his four years as Denham Town High goalkeeper, but like the lawyer he is aspiring to be, a talkative Brian Bennett stoutly defends his team.

In this, his final year of the ISSA-FLOW Manning Cup football competition, the agile goalie, who has kept six clean sheets so far, is hoping to score a scholarship to study law.

"I hope that I can get a scholarship to better my future; that alone I am looking at. I have six subjects and it's my last year in CAPE," said the player.

According to Bennett, who lives in the rough western Kingston community, he wants to become a lawyer to elevate his family and friends in his area.

"Nobody is working on anything for me so far, but I am hoping to have a good season, continue making my name, pass my subjects and, hopefully, get a chance to move forward for a scholarship. I want to study law overseas and I love football," Bennett told The Gleaner.

HELPING FAMILY

"I chose law because I want to help my family and see if I can help out friends and stuff in my community, where living is tough," he stressed.

Bennett stuck with his inner city-based school despite passing his subjects and amid prospects of transferring to another institution.

"This is my fourth year playing Manning Cup. I have played all four years as a starting keeper. I have not been captain, but I am very vocal in helping my team defend and attack as a team," he pointed out.

In Denham Town's recent game against many-time Manning Cup champions, Kingston College, Bennett was a standout, producing save after save and rallying his teammates to defend well and attack asa team.

He describes football as not just about fun, but a way out.

"My family has great expectations of me because they know that I can do it and I am the only one to do it for them. I am determined to do it for them," stressed Jackson, the second of three brothers.

"I stuck with Denham Town because I wasn't sure that I was going to get my subjects. It was a tough time in school and I was waiting on the results, so when I got my results, I wasn't training with any other team, so I stuck with my school," explained the goalkeeper.

He added that life in his community has been a tough one, but he has had to "just keep calm and hold my head high and keep struggling to get my subjects and do good in school".