-College Combine Comes to St. Thomas

By: Shawn Smith

Beginning March 7th 2012, Virgin Islands high school tackle football players took part in a football combine on CAHS field for an opportunity to chase down their dreams and tackle them. The “college combine” consists of several community colleges with football programs that come to our island to scout our young talent.

Schools such as Central Lakes College and Monroe Community College, which are trying to start a football program, visited the island of St. Thomas looking for recruits. It was open to sophomores, juniors and seniors.

When asked how it could be beneficial to student athletes in the territory, Defensive Captain Everson Fevrier replied, “It’s a way to help young male athletes to keep out of trouble and better themselves, and give them an opportunity to do what the love in college.”

One Kean athlete who has benefitted from the combine is alumni Ugel George, a defensive lineman at Harper Junior College in Chicago, who stated, “The combine is just a showcase to show your talent; it’s really about what you do all season. Kean players have a rarity in being chosen, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t have a chance to play college sports.”

George is among the few from Kean playing on the NCAA level. Unfortunately no one from Kean has been selected so far this year. Cursim Hansen of CAHS was chosen to play at the Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. The combine ended at March 11th but will continue to be held annually.

Ugel George at his signing day with Harper College in 2011 inside the school library.

Previously in the year, Kean players excelled to earn spots in the first ever Varsity Tackle Football All Star Game held Saturday, December 10th at St. Croix Educational Complex. Eleven players from Kean High were part of the very first all star games: Maleek Leonard, Simon Lawrence, Julius Boney, Andrew Penn Jr., Everson Fevrier, Shawn Smith, Shunell Greenaway, Peron Trotman, K’Jani Matthews, Trey Donovan, and Kerrol Laurent.

Kean finished their season with a 3-4 record after forfeiting their last game to Complex due to travel issues. Freshman quarterback Shunell Greenaway surprised the territory by throwing game-winning touchdowns with only seconds left and ranking #2 in QB touchdown passes for the season. This was a big improvement from last year’s 1-6 record, and the Devil Rays Football Program is looking at a bright future.

Editor’s Note:To read a related story about the Kean football season, please visit the Kean Web Express homepage and click on the story “Football Team Stands United.”