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Visa woes hit schoolboy stars

Published:Tuesday | December 12, 2017 | 12:00 AMMarc Stamp
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Gladstone Taylor
Ace St Andrew Technical defender David Smith (right) in action against Kevin Rochester of Jamaica College in the December 1 Manning Cup final at the National Stadium.
Ian Allen
STATHS goalkeeper Jaedine White.
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Two of St Andrew Technical High School's (STATHS) Manning Cup stars were not selected in a 20-man all-schools team for the Caribbean Americas Soccer Association (CASA) annual tournament in Florida this weekend.

Outstanding goalkeeper Jaedine White and top defender David Smith were among several players who were refused American visas for the annual tournament, which will be held at the Lauderdale Sports Complex in Oakland.

ISSA's competitions officer George Forbes confirmed yesterday that some top schoolboy stars will not make the trip because they had no visas.

"People that you see named in the squad are those with US visas. Only one out of a quite amount of persons that were sent to the embassy got a visa," Forbes said yesterday.

"Some of the players that we wanted to take had no visas. Notable among these are the STATHS goalkeeper (Jaedine White) and the STATHS defender (David) Smith. There was nothing we could have done ... ," he added. STATHS reached the Manning Cup final but were beaten by Jamaica College in a penalty shoot-out.

The all-schools squad and official party are set to leave the island today at 7 a.m. They will have a practice session tomorrow and are scheduled to play on Friday and Saturday. The final is on Sunday. The team is expected back next Tuesday.

The full squad is:

Goalkeepers - Tajay Griffiths (Wolmer's Boys), Kenroy Wallace (St Elizabeth Technical High School).

Defenders - Javain Brown (Kingston College), Maliek Howell (Jamaica College), Clifton Woodbine (St Elizabeth Technical), Antoneil Mullings (Kingston College), Shemar Farmer (Clarendon College), Renaldo Wellington (Rusea's High).

Midfielders - Tyreek Magee (Jamaica College), Fabian Grant (Kingston College), Chris-Andrew Dixon (St Elizabeth Technical), Shande James (Clarendon College) Tevin Rochester (Jamaica College), Daniel Reid (Rusea's High), Demar James (St Elizabeth Technical).

Forwards - Rashawn Mackison (Kingston College), Shai Smith (Holy Trinity High), Leonardo Fogarty (Rusea's High), Nicque Daley (Clarendon College) and Kaheem Parris (Dinthill Technical).

Team officials - Dr Walton Small (ISSA president), George Forbes (ISSA competitions officer), Stephanie Baker (ISSA competitions assistant), Linvern Wright (ISSA chairman, daCosta Cup), Miguel Coley (coach), Vassel Reynolds (coach) and Phillip Williams (equipment manager).