THE SCQ TROPHY COMES HOME
- 2 days ago
- 11 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
THE SCQ TROPHY COMES HOME
Let’s go back.
Saturday, 08 March 2025.
Jamaica College stood within touching distance of quiz glory and watched it slip through their fingers.
Not because they were outmatched. Anyone who followed the season and witnessed that final knows better. The JC boys were sharper, better prepared, ready. But the buzzer is a cold and final arbiter, and on that night, nerves succeeded where Titchfield High could not. A title that should have been secured was lost in an instant. The hurt cut deep.
Across the True Blue family, there was a quiet heaviness. Not noise. Not excuses. Just the weight of knowing what could have been.
In New York, it landed with particular force. This was more than a match to us. It was a more than decades-long commitment. An investment. A belief in a group of young men we knew were capable of something special. To see them fall so close to the summit was not easy.
But True Blue does not fold.
We regrouped. We recommitted. And as family always does, we showed up.
The Recharge Before the Redemption
In the spirit of Heroes Day 2025, JCOBA New York took a deliberate step. We sent the entire Jamaica College Schools’ Challenge Quiz team, to FDR Resort & Spa for a day that was earned. All inclusive. Sun fun and sea. Fellowship and laughter. A rare pause. A moment to breathe before the next ascent. It was our way of saying we see the sacrifice, we honour the effort, and we believe in what is coming.
Before they left those grounds, the team made a promise. Quiet. Certain. Unshakable.
They would bring the trophy home.
And some promises carry weight.
This one did.
39 Years. One Night. One Score.
Kingston, Thursday, 2 April 2026.
The 57th season of the TVJ Schools' Challenge Quiz came down to its final chapter. Jamaica College versus Westwood High, a first-time finalist, a 144-year-old Trelawny institution of strong academic tradition and iconic “jippi-jappa” straw hats, making history as only the second all-girls' school to reach the final since the competition began in 1969.
Three rounds. Alternate section. Speed section. Buzzer section. Five seconds to think. A nation watching.
JC led 7-5 after round one. Westwood surged in the speed section and levelled the score at 28-28. Everything on the line. Everything in the balance.
The final score: 30-28, Jamaica College.
Thirty-nine years. Since 1987. Through administrations, generations, and countless near-misses, the Schools' Challenge Quiz trophy had not lived at 189 Old Hope Road. On Thursday night, it came home.
The Men Behind the Mission
To the Champions Themselves
They did not walk into those TVJ studios cold. They walked in carrying months of preparation, countless drill sessions, late nights buried in study material, and the weight of 39 years of JC history on their shoulders. They knew what was at stake. They felt it. Every one of them.
And when Westwood levelled the score at 28–28 in that speed round, the nerves were real. The moment was enormous. Lesser teams fold under that pressure. They did not.
Captain Marvin Whyte steadied the ship the way only a true leader can. Calm where chaos beckoned. Focused where doubt could have crept in. He led from the front, and his team followed. Mason-Jai Edwards, Jamarli Banton, and Ryhomah Muir — four young men who carried the True Blue colours into that studio and refused to let them fall. When it mattered most, their minds were sharp and their composure unshakeable.
The final buzzer told the story. Jamaica College 30. Westwood High 28.
And when the dust settled, Captain Whyte spoke to the audience with a seasoned elocution and clarity that belied his years:
“Tonight, we celebrate not just a trophy, but the power of knowledge, discipline, and unity. May this victory inspire every young Jamaican to pursue excellence with humility and purpose.”
We are proud of every single one of you. 💙
Coach Chanarie Lindsay
And to Coach Chanarie Lindsay. Sir, what you have poured into these young men, the training, the mentorship, the preparation, the belief, is the foundation upon which this trophy stands.
But your story adds an extra layer of meaning. Once a JC Quiz boy who left and tasted SCQ victory elsewhere, you returned with purpose. There was unfinished business. A quiet determination to make it right.
Three years at the helm. Third. Then second. Now first. That is not chance. That is method, discipline, and belief compounded over time.
Welcome home, Coach. You have closed the circle in the most fitting way.
Jamaica College owes you a debt that no trophy alone can repay. We see you. We honour you. Thank you.
To the lovely ladies of Westwood High, we extend genuine respect and admiration. You made this final electric. You pushed our team to the very edge, and Jamaica is better for the standard you set. Well done.
The Sponsor
Championships are not accidents. They are built in the quiet hours, funded by belief, and carried on the backs of people most cameras never find.
We begin where many great victories quietly take root—not on the stage, but behind the scenes—with a man who never asked to be seen. The Sponsor of the Jamaica College Schools Challenge Quiz program.
If you’ve never heard his name before, take a moment and remember it now.
They will talk about the buzzer. They will talk about the score. They will talk about the comeback from 2025—and all of that is well deserved. But trophies do not materialise from passion alone. Someone has to underwrite the journey. Someone has to ensure the boys are nourished, prepared, equipped, and confident—long before the cameras turn on. Someone has to believe enough to invest, consistently, quietly, and without condition.
That someone is Dr. Michael Carty.
A former quiz man himself, he understood what excellence requires—and year after year, working closely with the New York Chapter, he became the financial backbone of the Schools’ Challenge Quiz programme at Jamaica College. No fanfare. No spotlight. Just resolute commitment.
When the team needed fuel—he funded it. When they needed transportation—he covered it. When they needed equipment, study materials, and coaching resources—he made it possible.
Every layer of preparation, every unseen detail that makes excellence inevitable, carries his imprint. These young men did not just arrive ready—they were made ready.
Dr. Carty did not do it for recognition. He did it because True Blue runs deep.
And so let it be said, plainly and without hesitation: the 2026 Schools’ Challenge Quiz trophy has Dr. Michael Carty's name on it—even if it is not engraved. We know. And now, the world knows too. Dr. Carty, we see you. We honor you. And we thank you—deeply, sincerely, and with immense pride.
The trophy is home, Doc. And you helped carry it there.
Capt. Wayne Harris.
Now allow us to speak about the master strategist. Mr. Quiz himself.
Capt. Wayne Harris. Former Vice President of JCOBA-NY. Current Advisory Board Director. Team Manager of the Jamaica College Quiz programme.
A former quiz man who turned personal passion into institutional mission.
He brought military precision to every dimension of this programme. Strategy. Planning. Logistics. Execution. Nothing left to chance. He invested his time, his talent, and his treasure. He made sacrifices few will ever fully know. He absorbed the noise, navigated the politics, and never once lost sight of the objective.
Over the past decade, we have sat with Capt. Harris as he mapped this out in meticulous detail. Every scenario considered. Every pathway envisioned. And if you know him, you know this simple truth… do not get in the way of his plans. The energy is relentless. All passion. All purpose. All True Blue.
This was not casual involvement. This was ownership. This was mission. And this week, it was triumph.
Capt. Harris, we render unto you a 21-gun salute. Mission accomplished.
There were tears on both sides of the aisle. Jamaica College had ended a 39-year drought, lifting the TVJ Schools' Challenge Quiz trophy in a fiercely contested final at the TVJ studios. Westwood gave everything they had. The emotion in that room was real, raw, and earned.
And then, something happened in the TVJ studios. Not the usual theatre of lights, cameras, and competition. Something deeper. Something human.
The Captain…cried.
Capt. Wayne Harris.
The man known for steel in his spine and discipline in his bearing. Unshaken. Unflinching. A leader cut from a military mold. And yet, in that moment, he wept.
Tears of joy. Tears of humility. Tears earned the hard way.
Because when the full weight of preparation, sacrifice, expectation, and legacy finally lifts, even the strongest among us feel it.
And if you could trace the DNA of those tears, look closely enough, you would see it clearly.
Blue.
True Blue.
Mr. Jahmar Clarke.
To Mr. Jahmar Clarke, former JC Head Boy, whiz-quiz-kid, your mentorship shows up in every composed answer and every calm buzzer moment. But what the audience doesn’t see is just as powerful.
In the SCQ arena, points are won and lost not only on answers, but in the margins, in the precision of judging, in the courage to challenge. And few navigate that space with the clarity and confidence that you do. While we’re watching the spectacle, you’re locked in on the details, tracking every ruling, every score, every nuance of the competition.
Many of the points secured on that journey were earned because you were prepared to step forward, respectfully challenge, and get it right. That is mastery of the game behind the game.
We are deeply indebted to you, Jahmar, for the quiet, surgical work that helped carry us here.
Mr. David Wright
To Mr. David Wright, President of JCOBA-Jamaica, whose contribution to this victory deserves more than a passing mention. David did not watch from a distance. He threw his full weight behind this team, ensuring that the collective JCOBA support was felt on the ground, in real time, where it mattered to the young men who needed to feel that the entire Old Boy network had their backs. That confidence is not a small thing. When a team knows that an entire community believes in them, they walk differently, they prepare differently, and they compete differently. David Wright helped put that confidence in the room. Thank you, sir. Your character, and your commitment to True Blue excellence did not go unnoticed.
The Principal Who Silenced the Critics
To Principal Wayne Robinson, a proven leader who has firmly secured his place in the pantheon of Jamaica College headmasters who do not merely inspire excellence, but install it as expectation.
We recall a candid exchange in which he observed, with characteristic directness, that despite JC being consistently among the best quiz teams in the nation, if the school did not win the trophy outright, the critics would climb every mountain top in Jamaica to proclaim that "JC a dunce school."
Principal Robinson, we trust those mountain tops were notably quieter last week.
Because this victory did not arrive in isolation. It was part of something larger, a year in which excellence kept showing up in different arenas, wearing the same colours.
On the fields and courts, Jamaica College asserted its authority. All-Island Football champions at both U-14 and U-16. Champions again at U-16 and U-19 Table Tennis. And at Champs, the boys rose to the moment and claimed the ultimate prize in track and field.
In the realm of ideas and intellect, the standard was just as high. An eighth consecutive triumph in the Stock Market Challenge, a dynasty built on discipline and depth. On the global stage in New York, the team distinguished itself at Model United Nations, earning recognition among the best.
And at the pinnacle of academic achievement, two Jamaica College men, Daniel Peart and Jaheem Khouri, were awarded the Jamaica Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious academic honours, reserved for the very best minds.
Then came the victory in the Schools’ Challenge Quiz.
And with that, Jamaica College completed what only a rare few have ever done. Champs and Quiz in the same year.
QUAMPS.
Not a boast. A benchmark.
The Principal often reminds us of a simple truism.
"JC men are good at everything."
Not braggadocio. Not pageantry. Just results.
This is what that statement looks like when it is lived, not spoken. Across disciplines. Across stages. Across the highest-pressure moments a young man can face.
Under Principal Robinson's stewardship, and despite no shortage of distractions and noise, excellence at Jamaica College is not episodic.
It is systemic. It is structural. It is standard.
The Chairman Who Never Sits Still
And we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the man who seems to materialise wherever Jamaica College needs a champion. JC Board Chairman Lance Hylton is not a ceremonial presence, he is an active force.
Visible. Vocal. Relentless in his advocacy.
From boardroom to sidelines, from strategy to spirit, the Chairman shows up. Every time. Everywhere. And not just to observe, but to energize, to support, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the programme.
The Quiz journey felt his imprint; steady, encouraging, and unmistakably True Blue.
Chairman, we say thank you. And yes, at this point, it may be time to issue you an official set of pom-poms…in JC Blue colors, of course.
The Full Village — Acknowledgements
Because championships are never won by a few. They are sustained by many.
Special mention to Mr. Martin Anderson, Geography Teacher and de facto SCQ Team Head of Logistics and Control, whose phenomenal work keeps the team balanced, disciplined, organised, and battle-ready at every stage of the competition.
To Mr. Barrington Wallace, Team Cook and Caretaker, who made sure the boys were fuelled, comfortable, and taken care of. The work done in the background is never small.
To JC Finance Department (Ms. Angella Thomas, Bursar) and team who handles the funding and disbursements with precision and efficiency. Every dollar accounted for. Every need met on time.
To Vice Principals Mitzie Graham-Morris and Wynter, whose consistent engagement and institutional support kept the programme anchored within the school.
To Mrs. Kimberley Ormsby, Faculty Advisor and team mentor, whose guidance shaped not just how these young men answer questions, but how they carry themselves.
To Old Boy Jaleel Richards, who delivers valuable drill training sessions that sharpen the team and build the bench strength that sustains this programme across seasons. That investment in depth is why JC keeps showing up ready.
And to Fabian "Fyahman” Morris, master motivator, cheerleader, and hype man extraordinaire. Every team needs the person who keeps the energy high and the belief unshakeable. That is you, Fabian.
Finally, to the man working quietly on the other side of the ledger. Our former President and current JCOBA-NY Treasurer, Carl Bennett, who vets every bill and manages every wire transfer with the efficiency and exactness of the corporate CFO that he is. The accounting that undergirds the entire SCQ enterprise runs smoothly because of you. Thank you, Carl.
New York Is Waiting
Jamaica College Quiz Team, the city that never sleeps has a question for you. Now that you have won the 2026 national Schools' Challenge Quiz championship, what are you going to do next?
You are coming to New York City as special guests of JCOBA-NY at the Griffin Awards, our annual celebration of excellence, affectionately known as the ‘Griffys’, to be held in July 2026. We have an exciting agenda planned, and we cannot wait to welcome you in the city where your Old Boys cheer the loudest.
The Close
Thirty-nine years is a long time to wait. But True Blue never fades. It deepens. It endures. It finds its way home.
This championship belongs to the boys who studied when others slept, to the coaches who prepared when others doubted, to the sponsors who invested when others walked away, and to the chapter members who showed up with resources, with belief, and with a resort stay that reminded a group of young men they were worth fighting for.
JCOBA-NY did not just celebrate this victory. We helped build it. And we are just getting started.
Disclaimer
This tribute was compiled with love, pride, from the lens of JCOBA-NY and with the best available information at the time of publication. If your name, contribution, or role was omitted from these pages, please know it was never by intent. The Schools' Challenge Quiz victory at Jamaica College was a collective effort, and no single document can fully capture every hand that helped carry this trophy home. We see you, we thank you, and we welcome any additions so the record can be made complete.
Fervet Forever. 💙
Published by the Jamaica College Old Boys Association of New York - Opus Blog
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