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Bringing back the good times

Tivoli High coach wants a return to being consistent title challengers

Published:Wednesday | December 7, 2022 | 12:12 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Tivoli High School coach Christopher Nicholas
Tivoli High School coach Christopher Nicholas
Tivoli High’s players celebrate after winning the Walker Cup KO trophy at Sabina Park on Saturday.
Tivoli High’s players celebrate after winning the Walker Cup KO trophy at Sabina Park on Saturday.
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The goal of Tivoli Gardens High head coach Christopher Nicholas is to bring the school back to its former glory. There, they were perennial schoolboy football contenders. After Friday’s Walker Cup title victory, Nicholas believes they are on the...

The goal of Tivoli Gardens High head coach Christopher Nicholas is to bring the school back to its former glory. There, they were perennial schoolboy football contenders.

After Friday’s Walker Cup title victory, Nicholas believes they are on the road back to being among the elite of schoolboy football.

Tivoli ended their 17-year wait for a title by defeating Haile Selassie 6-5 on penalties after the final ended 1-1 after regulation. Tivoli High goalkeeper Shakur Adair made the vital save in the seventh round to give the school its fifth Walker Cup title success.

Nicholas has been there before, having won the title when he was a player in 1996, an experience that he shared with the players in preparation for taking their moment.

“I told them to just relax and trust me. That feeling that you guys are going to get, it cannot be explained. You have to win it. So that is what I explained to them,” Nicholas told The Gleaner.

“And they can speak now to their siblings and in their community.”

It is something that Nicholas has been hoping to bring back to the school which last won a Manning Cup title in 1999 after being a staple among the contenders throughout much of the 1990s.

The euphoria of the players during the celebrations has brought Nicholas much satisfaction.

“It’s a joy. It has been what, 17 years? This is what we are about and this is what we want to bring back into the community,” Nicholas said.

The 2022 group has now added a chapter to those of the title-winning teams of the past. And while Nicholas says that they are not yet back to the level where they will be consistent contenders, they have taken the first step.

“We are not back fully but we are getting there. We are getting there. With the help of the Almighty. And we have a principal by the school that has our back 150 per cent and we are going.”

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com