My Captain – Carl Osborne
By Fred Thornhill

Carl Osborne entered Naparima in 1949 and by 1950 he had become a regular player on the school’s first eleven football team. In his rookie year Carl played at center forward but later moved to center half. In 1953 Carl Osborne was the captain of the Naparima College football team. It was a good team but it would not have been voted the strongest that Naparima had produced. But Carl was able to motivate his charge into a winning squad. In 1953 drawn games were replayed. Penalty kicks were unknown. Three full games were needed to decide a winner – Naparima.

Carl thus became the first Naparima captain to lead his team to intercol success over Presentation College.

After leaving Naparima, Carl played football for Forest Reserve then Angels and Juniors Sports Club. His outstanding performance on defence gained him selection on many representative teams.

At the end of his playing career, Carl became a very successful coach., In 1973, twenty years after he led his team to intercol victory, he coached Naparima to its first National Intercol Championship. He repeated this feat in 1976 and 1977.

In the 1980’s carl accepted the challenge to coach Presentation College and also lead that team to intercol success. Carl Osborne became the only person to have captained Naparima College as well as coached both Naparima and Presentation Colleges to intercol success. 

Carl Osborne born October 23, 1935. Died February 5, 1998.

Naparima Team - 1953
 

Standing: Left to Right: Sports Mater Yamin Ali, Mervyn Byam, Fred Thornhill, Hector Baptiste Stooping: Left to Right: Victor Henry, Desmond Chadee, Carl Osborne, Capt., Junior Barrow, Rosalind Ramberransingh, Stephen Ramsanker, Jerome Missing: George Ballah, Hugh Bobb, and Sook Marajh

Back to the Top

My Brother – Val Turton
By Dennis Turton

Val was the youngest of five (5) Turton boys. As he was quite small one of his sisters called him Pinhead Duffy after a cartoon character. The name Pinhead stuck to him through out this life. Val followed his brothers into San Fernando RC School and then Presentation College. He played football for Presentation and like all his brothers before him was on a winning intercol team. Val became a member of the Juniors Club and was a regular member of SAFA South Trinidad Football team. The pinnacle of his football career came when he was named

to represent Trinidad and Tobago. 

Val played cricket as well and fancied himself as a more than ordinary cover point fieldsman. Val soon found that the cricket ball hits very hard, so he gave up and became ‘official’ scorer.

Work took Val to Port of Spain where he eventually followed his eldest brother and joined the Maple Club.

Val’s skills as a player, combined with his academic achievement earned him a scholarship to attend Pratt Institute in New York. In 1973 he graduated with a BSc in Food Service Management.

Val married to Shirley and they have three lovely children – Lesley, Gary and Kevin

Unfortunately, Val has left us, but to those whose lives he came into contact with, his memory lives on. He was truly a fantastic human being – loving, caring, loyal, full of pride and easy to get along with.

Valentine Alexander Turton, the youngest of eleven (11) Turton children, was born on February 16, 1935. He led a full life, which ended on Thursday July 20, 2000.

This picture was taken before a game against Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry in Jamaica 1957 An English army team Result 1-1. It is interesting to note the following have passed on: Norris Young, Cax Baptiste, John Mc Vorron, and Val Turton. I do not know the status of Arthur Belgave.

Back to the Top

Our Sister - The First Lady
by Ian "Bunny" Ramjohn and Rolph Ramjohn

Before she ever was Her Excellency, Dr.Jean Ramjohn-Richards, First Lady of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago or even Dr. Jean Ramjohn, she was our younger sister Jean.

She grew up as any other bright young girl in San Fernando. Our parents sent her first to Grant School and then to San Fernando Government. Even from that young age Jean began to display the character and academic brilliance that would guide her accomplishments in later life. When she wrote the Government Exhibition she placed second among the girls and ninth over all. This meant that she was entitled to free secondary education at a school of her choice. Incidentally, but unrelated at the time, a young San Fernando boy had also done extremely well at the Government Exhibition a few years before and he was attending Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain. His name was Max Richards.

Jean also wanted to go to school in Port of Spain. She argued that since she was going to become a doctor and none of the girls’ schools in San Fernando did science, Port of Spain was the place for her to go to school. But our father told her that he was so pleased that her choice was Naparima Girls’ High School. Our father drove a 1929 Willys Knight, at the time the oldest car in San Fernando. Jean did not like our father to come to pick her up in his ‘’old car’’ which was really an antique.

After High School, Jean went to Naparima College to write her Higher Certificate Examination and was there for the historic event in 1953 – Naparima’s first victory over Presentation College. She got to know Carl Osborne and would later recall that Carl was the heartthrob of all the HC girls.

Because of the way our house was constructed we could be in our gallery and liming on the street at the same time. Jean would take advantage of this to see the boys as they made their way from the football games.

After the second drawn intercol match in 1953, Carl and some of the Naparima tean members chose our gallery to sit and plan for the next game. While the players were firm in most positions it was at center forward that we were having trouble. Jean was around as we debated between Lance Moore and George Ballah who got the nod and scored the winning goal.

Jean joined us in celebrating that memorable victory. She took the bus trip to Port of Spain in the bus with Carl and the rest of the team and supporters when we went to meet St.Mary’s.

Jean was always a supporter of local culture and the arts. She loved music and became a very good pianist. But Jean really loved carnival and wanted to play mass. But our father’s ideas on young women’s involvement in carnival, and especially his daughter’s were as modern as the 1929 Villys Knight he drove. Jean had to wait until she returned from her studies abroad as Dr. Jean Ramjohn, before she could fulfill her desire to play mass, an activity which she still enjoys today.

Jean was and still is an ardent sports fan with her enthusiasm for football being second only to that for cricket. When Fred told us that The Val Turton/Carl Osborne Foundation was thinking of asking her to be its Patron, we encouraged him to make the approach, since we knew that she would have found it extremely difficult to refuse. We take this opportunity to congratulate our sister, Her Excellency Dr. Jean Ramjohn-Richards, First Lady of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for becoming Patron of The Val Turton/Carl Osborne Foundation. Val Turton she knew, but Carl Osborne she knew well.

Back to the Top

Naparima College

Naparima College - Football by Nadeem R. Hosein and A.Sirju

Naparima's standing involvement in league football started as far back as 1964 when the Colleges League was formed. However, by 1970, the football department at the school was virtually dormant. During the early 70's, the college won the South and National senior division trophies. In 1973, Naps returned to the spotlight by winning the National Intercol Tournament by beating Tranquillity Secondary 3 1. At that time, players such as Gerard Greene, Robert Francis and Ying Young Low represented the school. The Intercol title was again won by the school in 1976 and 1977.

The enthusiasm and success in football declined in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1995, the school entered the competitions but was demoted. In just one year, 1996, however, the football team won the senior division and was promoted to the Championship division once again. In 1998 a team with players such as Joel Bailey, Sanjeev Katwaroo and Erasto Neptune was able to capture the Southern Division League Title. That year we also placed third at the National level.

The year 1999 proved to be the most successful year for the College. We had retained most of our players from the previous year. The team set out with three objectives; to win the South Zone, Big 4 League finals and the Intercol title. After becoming Southern Champions for the second consecutive year, we achieved objective two by beating El Dorado in the National League finals at Skinner Park (3-2).

The team had to stay focused on their third objective and not become complacent with their previous victories. In our quest for the National Intercol honours and our third trophy we defeated Mucorapo Senior (3-1), St. Mary's College (2-1) and Malick Secondary (1 -0) in the National Semi-finals.

The National Intercol final was played before a mammoth crowd of Naps students and south supporters at Skinner Park. After a gruelling eighty five minutes of football, a header by Naps' leading goal scorer, Ateba McKnight, in the dying stages of the game sealed victory for us. In so doing, the College created a landmark by becoming the first school in the history of the Secondary Schools Football League to win all major titles in the league and to play unbeaten for the entire tournament. Naparima scored 47 goals but conceded only 12. In yet another achievement Jace Peters was selected as Player of the Year and was awarded the Coca-Cola Education Scholarship worth TT$ 10,000.00. Six Naparima players, Aquelius Sylvester, Clint Deverteuil, Jace Peters, Leon Brown, Ateba McKnight and Jason Hector were selected in the National School Boys 'All Star Team'.

These achievements were obtained through prayer, hard work and planning. Thanks are due to our sponsor for many years, David John Williams, a past student of our school. The coach, Jan Steadman, assistant coach Louis Linton and the technical staff, T. Babwah, Ricardo Narinesingh, Shane Lookit and Stephen Boodoo should also be
recognised and complimented.

The Principal and the rest of the administration should be commended for the support they give. Mr. Roy Jagroopsingh has been largely responsible for the success of the team. His foresight and planning played an integral part in the formation of the outstanding team. However, none of this would have been possible without the support shown by the students. The players themselves have said that they found motivation in the cheering crowd. The excellent performance of the school in both cricket and football is a result of the cooperation and support at all levels in the community of Naparima College.

Written by: Nadeem R. Hosein
Assisted by: A.Sirju

Back to the Top

Naparima College - Notable Graduates

Noor Hassanali: recent President of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. In 1939, while a teacher at Naparima, he established "Founder's Day" as an annual event

Rawie Ramkissoon: 1930's, scholar, classicist, (London), later Asst Director of Education

Samuel Selvon: 1938, renowned author of several Caribbean novels, and university professor. Naparima has established a Samuel Selvon Day in his honour.

Ralph Laltoo: A graduate, scholar, Dalhousie alumnus, and subsequent influential teacher of English Literature at Naps, Mr Laltoo went on to be Principal of Queen's Royal College for many years.

James Lee Wah: A pupil of Ralph Laltoo, imbued with a similar passion for the English masters, James was a pillar at Naps for many years, in the role of Vice-Principal, and nationally-recognized dramatic arts director and promoter.

Dr Ralph R. Baney: 1948, Internationally known artist and sculptor, graduate of Brighton School of Art and University of Maryland, currently resident in Washington, D.C., Ralph has enjoyed a distinguished career in his field, and has numerous public and private works in at least three countries.

Horace James: 1940's. Nationally-acclaimed comedian and playwright, and radio personality,

Sir Trevor McDonald: 1959. Radio broadcaster at Naparima's Blue Circle Network, Trinidad's 610, and the UK's Independent TV, Trevor was recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, as 'Keeper of the English Language" in the UK.

Ralph Maraj: Nationally-renowned actor, writer, teacher, and political figure, Ralph is the Minister of External Affairs in the present government.

Dr Brinsley Samaroo: Brins is a beloved figure among his contemporaries, a history scholar and chronicler of the Indian history of Trinidad, long-time professor at University of the West Indies, and former minister of the national government.

Dr Allan MacKenw: A contemporary of Mr Lee Wah's and fellow student of the literary arts, Allan was the second Trinidadian-born principal of the school, a position he held for over thirty years.

Dr Vemon Mulchansingh: Head of Geography Department at UWI, Jamaica

Dr Kenneth Ramchand: A pupil of Mr Lee Wah's, Kenneth is a world-wide authority in West Indian literature, and is a Professor of English at UWI, St. Augustine,

Mervyn Dymally: Born in Cedros, Trinidad, on May 12, 1926, Mervyn M. Dymally became a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981 following a diverse career in education and government, which included Lieutenant-Governor of the State of California.

Len Traboulay: Born September 19,1934 in San Femando, attended Naparima College, University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta. Elected Mayor of Port Coquitlam, B.C. in 1981

Dr. Lall R. Sawh: Awarded Chaconia Gold Medal in 1994 for outstanding service in the field of medicine in Trinidad & Tobago. Recognized as the first surgeon to perform kidney transplant operation in the Caribbean; first to introduce "button-hole" surgery to the Caribbean; first to import lithotripsy machine for minor kidney surgery without incision. Recognized as a distinguished individual in "Who's Who in the World" since 1993. Currently an associate lecturer at Mt. Hope and personal urologist to the President of T&T. While at Naparima College, he served as Head Boy while in Sixth Form, then went on to study medicine in Jamaica, where he graduated top of the Caribbean, and was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to continue his post-graduate studies in Scotland.

George Winston MacKenzie: George, younger brother of our former principal, entered
the diplomatic service for T&T as a young man, and served as our ambassador in
Guiana, London and elsewhere. He is currently the Permanent Ambassador to the
United Nations in New York.

We wish to thank www.naparima.org for allowing us to display this information.

Back to the Top

Presentation College