North Ruimveldt Secondary will face defending champions, Christianburg Wismar Secondary, in the final of the Milo Boys Under-18 School Football Tournament at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue, on Sunday.
For North, it is uncharted territories at the Under-18 level, and they are savouring the idea they can topple the formidable opposition and win the title.
This year, the tournament has a straight knock format, and North had some close shaves on their way to the final.
Captain Yonnick Norton in an interview said they are pumped are ready for the clash. “We have been working hard, and we are ready for the final”, a candid Norton stated Friday.
Reflecting on playing in the ExxonMobil Under-14 final where they lost to Chase Academic Foundation, Norton said, he wants to go the full distance and fulfil a dream of winning a championship at the school.
A pillar to the success thus far is a former student and now national player, Jeremy Garrett, who is performing the role of coach.
The captain indicated that Garrett volunteered his time and has thus far has been very instrumental in guiding them to success and how to handle pressure situations.
Norton said they will work even harder in these few days to the final and hope for the best.
However, the Christianburg camp had made their intentions clear of repeating the title in an earlier interview, and are certainly favourites given their winning pedigree over the years.
North Ruimveldt edged Dolphin Secondary 4-3 in the semi-final while a second-half double by Kemar McLauren (61st, 69th) led the Region Ten unit to yet another final via a 3-0 blanket of Cummings Lodge Secondary.
The third place will commence at 16:00h while the grand final is from18:00h.
At stake is a cash prize of G$300,000 for the tournament’s winner to go towards a school project. Second to fourth will cop G$200,000, G$100,000, and G$75,000 respectively.
There will also be individual prizes for top performers.
