Naparima College will be looking to get a beavertrick of victories when they face Presentation College in the 4th annual Turton-Osbourne Memorial Trophy at Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, on Saturday.
The idea to host an annual match in the memory of two of San Fernando's outstanding footballers, Val Turton, the former national player and Carl Osbourne, the creative and outstanding Naparima College centre half, was born in 2000 and later taken over by a committee to be known as the Turton-Osbourne Foundation.
Osbourne created history in 1953 when he became the first Naparima College captain to lead his team to victory over "Pres" in an InterCol game.
Twenty years later (1973) he had the distinction of guiding "Naps" to their first National InterCol glory.
Turton, on the other hand, was the last of five brothers, who all represented Presentation College.
Nicknamed "Pinhead Duffy" by one of his sisters because of his petite frame, Val had a much more difficult time of making Presentation's team than his other brothers, but when he finally did in 1952, he played with great distinction.
He helped Presentation maintain their hold on the JO Cotridge Cup to keep alive a tradition that Presentation College never lost an InterCol to Naparima as long as there was a Turton on their team.
In light of the outstanding achievements of these two southern "sons of the soil" the Foundation decided to honour their contributions with an annual clash between the two colleges.
The Foundation also agreed that in addition to the annual memorial game they would promote the following three key goals:
The awarding of a $5,000 bursary each year to a deserving student from each college to further his educational aspirations.
Providing financial support for the football programmes of both Naparima and Presentation College and encouraging the development of women's football in the southern region.
Regarding the development of women's football, a match featuring two teams from schools in the southern region was added to the programme thus creating an exciting double-header.
This year's female encounter will see Pleasantville Senior Composite coming up against Moruga Composite with the winners collecting the Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards Challenge Trophy, which was donated by the First Lady.
The Foundation has already awarded $20,000 over the past two years with 2002 awardees, Shay Sutherland of Presentation and Lindon Pompey of Naparima, each receiving $5,000 to help further their education at a university of their choice.
The 2003 awardees were Ancil Farrier and Davon Jones of Naparima and Presentation, respectively.
Farrier was accepted at the University of West Connecticut ,USA, on a soccer scholarship.
Saturday's double-header is scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. with the Pleasantville/Moruga female match-up to be followed by the feature game some two hours later.
And Presentation, who usually dominated matches between these two old rivals, during the playing days of Turton and Osbourne, will be seeking to restore pride by denying Naparima an historic beavertrick of victories.
On August 4, 2005 at the Foundation's annual awards ceremony at Crowne Plaza, Port of Spain, Her Excellency Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards presented the Val Turton/Carl Osbourne Foundation bursary cheques, totalling $20,000 to Andre Jeffers and Dezi Lara (Naparima) and Joel Richardson and Justin Edwards of Presentation.
This brought the total amount of bursaries presented by the Foundation to $40,000.
The annual Naparima/Presentation InterCol will be the second game with a new Val Turton/Carl Osbourne Memorial Trophy at stake since last year Naps claimed the original trophy after winning it on three consecutive occasions.
The efforts of the Val Turton /Carl Osbourne Foundation have been supported by its patron, Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, San Fernando Mayor Ian Atherly, with its major sponsors Petrotrin, Unit Trust Corporation, Industrial Gases Ltd, Neal and Massy and Dynamics Ltd, the schools themselves as well many students and supporters of the institutions.
This year Naps have already won the South Zone Secondary Schools title, while Presentation are still lingering in Senior Grade for the past two seasons.
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