What does benna boys mean?
Benna (
Wikipedia)
Benna (or bennah) is an uptempo Antiguan folk song that was introduced following the prohibition of slavery. Songs usually focused on scandalous and bawdy rumors and gossip, and were in a call-and-response form with a leader and an audience. Benna's popularity and similarity to calypso helped make the island receptive to that genre's introduction. The modern performer Short Shirt has attempted to revive the benna in modern years, with his 1977 album Harambee an influential work that began updating benna with social and political awareness.
By the beginning of the 20th century, it had become a method of folk communication, disseminating news and reports from across the island. In the 1940s and 50s, an improvisational benna singer named John "Quarkoo" Thomas sang up-to-date stories on legal scandals, and the sexual affairs of the upper-class. He was eventually imprisoned because of the lyrics to "Cocoatea", which was about the daughter of a respected citizen, and her secret pregnancy while in a convent.
Antigua Football Team Named, "Benna Boys"
Antigua ChronicleFebruary 22, 2012The Grand prize winner Jennifer Hector was the quickest to the draw from among scores of people in the Antigua & Barbuda Football Association’s Name the Team Contest.
Hector was the first person to submit the name the Benna Boys, which prevailed in the text-to-vote final phase.
Benna Boys garnered 1,380 votes, ahead of Beach Boys, which tallied 1,273 votes.
There was a gulf between the top two contenders and the other names on the short listed, with Iron Bandits coming a distant third with 408 votes.
Rhythm Warriors was next with 266, ahead of Benna Rebels (121); Party Crashers (101); Jam Bulls (89); and Black Ants (51).
Hector won two roundtrip tickets to see the opening match in Round Three of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil; ground transportation, accommodation; two replica jerseys and VIP treatment for the home games.
The Group A match against the United States will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The other teams in the group are Guatemala and Jamaica.
ABFA General Secretary Gordon Derrick said the people have spoken.
“We wanted this campaign to be people driven. At the end of the day, there was good participation, starting with just over 500 people submitting names and rationales, and then more than 3,500 text votes for the names that made the shortlist,” Derrick said.
“We’ll just chalk it up to irony that the name chosen by the majority is the nickname name by which the team is already known, and that, of course, speaks to music that is indigenous to us.
Overall, it says something that many people had interest and took the time to write and to text, and we all know the saying about what the voice of the people represents,” Derrick added.
