George ‘T’: An Extraordinarily Ordinary Human Being
George Thompson
By Delano Franklyn
The meteorological office had predicted heavy rain for the Saturday. It was the very same Saturday, July 19, 2008 that the funeral service for George Oliver Thompson, known locally and internationally, as George T, was to be held at the St. Andrew Parish Church.
George T had played many football matches and coached many football teams which played during the rain. He was a man who was always prepared. That was the central theme of his philosophy – preparation. We who, rain or shine, would be at the funeral service, knew that rain could not affect the funeral service. It had never ‘washed out’ any of George T’s football matches and it would not, could not ‘wash out’ his funeral service.
The meteorological office, which in recent years, have been getting it’s predictions right, was on target. Showers brought on by a strong tropical wave, located over the central Caribbean Sea and to the east of Jamaica, thundered from the skies from early Saturday morning. To reach the St. Andrew Parish Church, was a task. Water enveloped the roads from side to side, but attendees, fortified by the memories of George T and affirmed by the creed, ‘the brave may fall but never yield’, never yielded, water or no water. When I arrived, members of his family, faithful to the end, were already compactly seated, many wearing dark glasses and must have been pleased at the outpouring of friends who turned out, despite the downpour outside.
Who is Who
By 9.30am, the time for the start of the service, the church, appropriately decorated in the colours of purple and white, was already packed with people drawn from, town and country as well as from our diasporic communities. George T demonstrated that he had pulling powers, not only during his life, but also in his afterlife. To a man and woman, every one, teary eyed but resolute, outlined to each other and to anyone who would listen, the impact that George T had on their lives.
The list of attendeees read like a virtual who is who; Freddie Green, Allan ‘Skill’ Cole, Julian ‘Jingles’ Reynolds, Delano ‘Zac’ Harrison, Lloyd McLean, Jimmy Richards, Easton McMorris, Laurie Foster, Neville Oxford, Carlton ‘Spanner’ Dennis, Kirk Douglas, Patrick Dallas, Bobby Smith, Denis Johnson, Dennis Smith, Locksley Comrie, Winston Chung Fah, Tony Keyes, Clare Forrester, Robert Wan, Carl Brown, Wendel Downswell, Errol Ennis, Charles Headlam, Bally Reid, Lorne Donaldson, Herbert ‘Dago’ Gordon, Helen Douglas, Headley ‘Delmar’ Samuels, Carol Samuels, Wayne Lewis, Warren Blake, Churchill Neita, Molo Walter, William Goldsmith, Howard Aris, Rainford Wilks, Franklyn Morant, Horace Helps, Winston Davidson, Rupert Hemmings and a host of others.
Horace Burrell, Stewart Stephenson and Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris all brought tributes, while Donovan Davis, former Sportsmaster at K.C., gave the remembrance. Dr. Omar Davies wearing the hat of President of the Arnett Gardens Football Club and Arnold Aiken representing the Excelsior Past Student Association read lessons. Many are not aware of the fact that George T’s coaching career started at Excelsior High School.
Taking his cue from the ‘giant of a man’ that George T was and, the fact that he too is a product of Kingston College, Reverend Abner Powell, who gave the homily, reminded members of the congregation that the colour white was not chosen accidentally by the school’s late founder, Bishop Gibson. No. The colour white represents ‘baptism’. Equally, the choice of the colour purple was not an accident either. It represents royalty. This combination of ‘purple and white’ or ‘royalty and baptism’ symbolizes the essence of K.C. and is a powerful reminder, that those who graduated from K.C. are destined to be Christian gentlemen as well as leaders in their own right. No one, and I say so without any fear of contradiction, would disagree that George T manifested, in all his sayings and his doings, the qualities of a Christian gentleman as well as that of a leader. A quiet unassuming leader, as was so eloquently enumberated by Rev. Powell.
Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris
The person, however, speaking on behalf of the Kingston College family, who, was able, from an up front and close position, to put George T’s life in proper perspective, was non other than a man who in his prime, could kick a football with either feet, equally well, Trevor ‘Jumpy’ Harris. He spoke feelingly about George T’s influence on the 1964 and 1965 Kingston College Football Teams which, undoubtedly, are the best high school football teams ever to have played at that level.
Those who would wish to dispute this conclusion must remember that in 1964 and 1965, the K.C. Football Teams were winners of the Manning Cup, Oliver Shield and Walker Cup. They were not defeated by any other schoolboy football team and in 1965, ten players were named to the All Manning Team. George T would have coached the 1964 and the 1965 teams at the tender age of 32 and 33 respectively. Many were not surprised at his feat because he merely took up where he left off. As a schoolboy at K.C., he played on the Manning Cup team from 1949 to 1952. K.C. won the Manning Cup all four years, as well as the Oliver Shield in 1949 and 1952. George T was the captain of the 1951 and 1952 teams and was selected to the All Manning and All Schools teams in 1952.
George T was never alone however, as he believed in teamwork. He had around him some of the most dedicated and loyal persons at K.C. This support group included among many, persons such as Raymond Thompson, Lloyd Keeling, Audley Hewitt, Roy McLean, Teddy McCook, Victor Rhone, Keith Young, Mickey Murdock, Dickie Coke and the legendary Foggy Burrowes.
Harris reminded the congregation that, George T’s approach to coaching introduced a change to team preparation. A change from the boring physical emphasis, of laps, exercise and more laps to a more technical emphasis where players became physically fit, through various exercises, utilizing the football.
Tactically, according to Harris, George T was unsurpassed and he used as an example an incident involving the Munroe College Football Team. Said Harris, “we can recall in the 1964 Oliver Shield final at Munroe College, after defeating Munroe in the first leg 5-1, George T told us that he was expecting the Munroe players to come out with special marking assignments for Tony Keyes and others. He was therefore going to shift the forwards into different positions for the start of the game. The Munroe players when they ran out on to the field, did not expect to see the K.C. players in different positions. They became confused as to their marking assignments and found themselves down 1-0 in the first two minutes of the game. The strategy worked.”
Harris shifted gear from looking at George T the coach, to looking at George T the father, the inspirer and the teacher. George T, according to Harris, “was never a money seeking coach, in fact, throughout his life he spent at least 70% of his earnings back on football. His budget would read, food, lunch money, bus fares, school uniforms, books or socks for the players who could not afford it and, thereafter, he would attend to his personal needs.”
Fortis Extraordinaire
The Jamaican society and K.C. in particular, have lost one of the most dedicated person to his craft. He brought back so many of our youth from a life of badmanism and uncivilized behaviour. He did not do so with force or bullyism, he did it with gentle pursuasion and by his own living examples.
It was thereafter not surprising that so many traveled from the USA and Canada and braved the heavy rains to be at his church service. If everyone of us could take a leaf out of George T’s book, particularly when we interface with the young people of this country, Jamaica can and will improve. If anybody else does, the K.C. family cannot afford for the memories of George T to fade away because, as Harris reminded us, “George T was always a fortis extraordinaire. He was a fortis student, coach, sportsmaster, benefactor, counsellor, gardener, janitor, and utility person. Everything he owned was for K.C. He was always for close to sixty years, on call to that institution.” Harris closed his tribute on a light but very serious note when, in a mournful but crisp voice he said, “Farewell George T, reality dictates that one of us in this congregation, soon come check yu.”
