Neighbours come together for Roper Cup football festival

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

St George's College and Kingston College (KC), two schools which have won 33 Manning Cup titles and 20 Olivier Shield crowns between them, will renew their rivalry on August 28 when they meet in the 46th staging of the Roper Cup football festival.

The North Street-based schools have more than just location in common as KC was founded by St George's old boy, the late Bishop Percival Gibson.

The old boys of both schools introduced the Roper Cup in an effort to foster even closer ties between the two schools. The competition was named after Father Clarence 'Jack' Roper, a St George's College old boy and priest.

The day's proceedings will get under way with the under-14 match at 9 a.m. This will be followed by the under-16 encounter. The collective scores of both games will determine the winners of the George Thompson Cup. Thompson was an outstanding coach of KC.

The battle for the Roper Cup will get under way at noon, when the under-35 old boys of both schools take the field. The second game, which will contribute to determining the winners of the cup, will be the match-up between the two current Manning Cup teams, and this is the feature match, which is slated to start at 4 p.m. This will see two-time defending Manning Cup and Olivier Shield champions St George's College and 15 times Manning Cup winners KC go head-to-head. The aggregate score of both games will decide which school will walk away 2010 Roper Cup winners.

KC are the current holders of the Roper Cup, following their 3-1 win in the under-35 game last year. They went down 2-1 in the Manning Cup team game but took the tie 4-3 on aggregate.

The other cup that will be up for grabs is the Pancho Rankin Cup, which will be contested by the over-35 old boys of both teams. This match is slated to get under way at 2 p.m.

Successful staging

According to Glenroy Brown, chairman of the Roper Cup commission, everything is in place for the successful staging of the competition.

"Everything is very much in place," said Brown. "We worked hard to orga-nise the competition, so we think that it should be an exciting day," he added.

Margaret Campbell, principal of St George's, views the festival as an effective means of unifying the students.

"It is a way to bridge the gap and we know that sports is always a good way to bridge the gap, especially between teenagers," said Campbell.

Herbert Nelson, principal of KC, also believes the festival helps to mold the youngsters into more wholesome persons.

"It allows our young people to realise that the schools are there for learning and for fellowship to create wholesome persons and community-based individuals," said Nelson.