‘She was on the cusp of greatness’ - Friends remember slain Reggae Girl after fatal stabbing

The passing of national female footballer, Tarania Clarke, who was stabbed to death in Half-Way Tree Thursday evening, has sparked a nationwide mourning for the 20-year-old defender, who was being touted for greatness.

On Friday, former Reggae Girlz assistant manager, Sherona Forrester, and several Reggae Girlz joined the family in mourning at their home in the ‘Back Bush’ community off Mountain View Avenue.

Despair and gloom greeted our news team when we arrived at Clarke’s residence, as family members contemplated in disbelief the passing of young Tarania.

Forrester, a Rhodes Scholar, who knew the former Excelsior captain through the national programme, revealed that she had been keeping track of her career and believed the Waterhouse captain was on the cusp of great things.

“This was the year of change for her and the catalyst for her peak, so it is really disheartening,” Forrester told The Gleaner after a lengthy conversation with Clarke’s mother, Charmaine Riley-Clarke.

“I knew her while I was a part of the senior team. We had some initiative to foster the younger ones and we visited their camps and that is how I encountered ‘Plum Plum’. Then I went to give a (motivational) talk at the final of the schoolgirls’ league and she came to me and said how she admired me and loved to see me play and ever since then, I have kept check on her.

“Our last conversation was after she scored a brilliant goal from out of the 18 yards. I was telling her that you have to show them you are ready for the big stage and I believe this was the beginning of her peak. We were really expecting great things from her when she made the transition to the senior team. So it is really devastating,” Forrester commented.

She noted that Clarke’s reputation as a quiet, disciplined and kind individual is now being acknowledge by all who knew her.

“During my tenure as manager, she keeps to herself, she is quiet and does not give trouble. And our presence here is to remind the family of the impact their daughter had outside their home, and our testimony of her which coincides with hers (mother) shows that even when she left the walls of her home, she was still the same humble, hard-working person. So we want to give strength and our deepest condolences to the family,” she added.

Former Excelsior teammate, Jevanese Taggan, could not hold back the tears as she remembered her former school captain.

“I knew her from seventh grade. Plum Plum was very humble, she was always encouraging me and always smiling. When I heard she got stabbed I couldn’t believe,” Taggan said.

“The last time I saw her I was on teaching practice and I came to Excelsior and she asked if I really wanted to become a teacher after all the trouble I gave my teachers. She is a very good talent and she loved football and I just want to say condolence to the family. I can’t really believe she is really gone,” Taggan commented.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Football Federation said it was ‘lost for words’.

“In the year when our senior Reggae Girlz participated in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the nation celebrated, the country must now mourn the tragic passing of one of its most talented local-based players, Tarania ‘Plum Plum’ Clarke. The federation is lost for words in expressing its profoundest sadness at the passing of Tarania,

“Described by those who coached and managed her as quiet and warm, she recently went into a determined drive to improve her skills, her fitness and was making plans to go overseas to college in January. The JFF family expresses condolences to the Waterhouse FC, her family, her friends and colleagues at the senior team.”

Clarke celebrated her 20th birthday in October.