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Ardenne still remember 1991

Published:Sunday | October 13, 2024 | 12:11 AMGregory Bryce - Staff Reporter
Medical personnel tend to Ardenne’s Romane Foster (sitting on the ground) during an ISSA Manning Cup game against Hydel High School at Ardenne on October 4. Hydel won the game 8-0.
Ian Allen
Medical personnel tend to Ardenne’s Romane Foster (sitting on the ground) during an ISSA Manning Cup game against Hydel High School at Ardenne on October 4. Hydel won the game 8-0.

THE NAME Ardenne High School is more commonly associated with academic success rather than schoolboy football glory. However, head coach Lloyd Terrelonge says the echoes of their Manning Cup-winning team of 1991 still inspire their football programme to this day.

Ardenne’s record in Zone A of the ISSA Manning Cup this season does not paint a flattering picture of the school’s programme.

Ardenne have three points from seven games, scoring four times and conceding on all of 39 occasions.

Now, while his peers are balancing loftier schoolboy football expectations, Terrelonge faces the daunting task of leading a programme that has had very little to celebrate in over three decades.

He is doing so by drawing inspiration from the Ardenne team, which dominated schoolboy football, winning the Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles in 1991.

In fact, Terrelonge was a key player in that team, having played the role as a stalwart defender and team captain throughout the title-winning campaign.

“We use the past history of our school. We use the past of Ardenne winning the Manning Cup back in 1991,” Terrelonge explained.

“I use that team and those stories to motivate them and for them to come along. We tell them about some great players that have passed through Ardenne and they hear about these players who played for the school and that has motivated them each game.”

Despite their less-than-impressive season so far, Terrelonge is hopeful the team will see major improvement in the seasons to come.

He explained several players in the squad have up to five years of eligibility in the Manning Cup.

He said as these players continue to develop, he is confident that they will begin to compete at a higher standard.

“We’re really in a building process right now because we have a very young team with us now. We’re just going out there to get the experience and next year and the years to come, we’ll challenge even better,” Terrelonge stated.

“Some of our players have three, four and even five years on this team. We have players who are 13 years old and 14 years old right now, so we’re looking for great things from them in the future. We are here now fighting, fighting, and fighting to try and get results out of our matches.”