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Norman Manley: Sporting Hero and More -
by Jimmy Carnege
Reprinted from The Jamaica Journal Vol 25 No 1
In a very real sense, the fact that Norman Manley first attracted wide attention in Jamaica as a sporting hero had a great deal to do with his entry into public life, a public life which culminated, after his death, in his elevation to the Order of National Hero in September, 1969.
No one should pretend that it was not Norman Manley's great intellect which was to serve as his chief recommendation from his very early days. However, there can be little doubt that but for his great sporting prowess he might not have secured the Rhodes Scholarship which took him to Oxford and the study of law.
As we celebrate Norman Manley's centenary, it is fitting for us to be aware that the wide recognition of his sporting prowess coincided with the first three years of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports, known over the years as Championships, Champs, Boys' Championships and now Boys' Champs. The first of these events was in the year 1910, which was also Manley's first year in Class 1, the senior class, where any marked success was sure to attract attention.
In those early days, only six schools entered the championships. Those institutions were Wolmer's Boys, the first winners and one of the oldest schools in the island, Manley's Jamaica College, St George's College and Potsdam School, all of which are still very much with us. Potsdam was the original name of what is now Munro College. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, German names became highly unpopular in Britain and the colonies, and so the Germanic 'Potsdam' was changed to the acceptable 'Munro'.
The best summary of Manley's schoolboy career in track and field athletics still remains that of the late Sir Herbert Macdonald in the Foreword to his History of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports - Champs 1910 - 1970, a rare but indispensable volume. Sir Herbert, a man who knew a thing or two about sport, wrote of Manley: 'He was the first schoolboy in Jamaica to take training seriously (and do note that Macdonald did not write 'to be trained seriously')
He took unto himself the job of imposing discipline into the athletic life of the College. He ordered all boarders to run two laps before breakfast each morning. He stood at the top of the steps with a strap and corked every boy who disobeyed his order.'
Even if that account contains some hyperbole, it is clear that certain aspects of the schoolboy sporting leader prefigured certain aspects of the national professional, social and political leader - social encompassing both sports and the arts.
by Jimmy Carnege
Reprinted from The Jamaica Journal Vol 25 No 1
In a very real sense, the fact that Norman Manley first attracted wide attention in Jamaica as a sporting hero had a great deal to do with his entry into public life, a public life which culminated, after his death, in his elevation to the Order of National Hero in September, 1969.
No one should pretend that it was not Norman Manley's great intellect which was to serve as his chief recommendation from his very early days. However, there can be little doubt that but for his great sporting prowess he might not have secured the Rhodes Scholarship which took him to Oxford and the study of law.
As we celebrate Norman Manley's centenary, it is fitting for us to be aware that the wide recognition of his sporting prowess coincided with the first three years of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports, known over the years as Championships, Champs, Boys' Championships and now Boys' Champs. The first of these events was in the year 1910, which was also Manley's first year in Class 1, the senior class, where any marked success was sure to attract attention.
In those early days, only six schools entered the championships. Those institutions were Wolmer's Boys, the first winners and one of the oldest schools in the island, Manley's Jamaica College, St George's College and Potsdam School, all of which are still very much with us. Potsdam was the original name of what is now Munro College. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, German names became highly unpopular in Britain and the colonies, and so the Germanic 'Potsdam' was changed to the acceptable 'Munro'.
The best summary of Manley's schoolboy career in track and field athletics still remains that of the late Sir Herbert Macdonald in the Foreword to his History of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports - Champs 1910 - 1970, a rare but indispensable volume. Sir Herbert, a man who knew a thing or two about sport, wrote of Manley: 'He was the first schoolboy in Jamaica to take training seriously (and do note that Macdonald did not write 'to be trained seriously')
He took unto himself the job of imposing discipline into the athletic life of the College. He ordered all boarders to run two laps before breakfast each morning. He stood at the top of the steps with a strap and corked every boy who disobeyed his order.'
Even if that account contains some hyperbole, it is clear that certain aspects of the schoolboy sporting leader prefigured certain aspects of the national professional, social and political leader - social encompassing both sports and the arts.
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