Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Norma Hibbert ... I understand the game of football and I've always loved it just as much as my son loved it. - CONTRIBUTED
THE SUFFERING felt by Norma Hibbert and her family as a result of the passing of her child has not gone unrewarded. Jamaica's young footballers can look towards a bright future.
The story isn't as simple as that though. Hibbert, who is now over 50 years old (she won't say how much over), went to England to live when she was an 11-year-old and fell in love with football.
Her son, Jonathan Hibbert, also fell in love with the sport but never fulfilled his dream of making it to the big stage as his life was snapped short in an accident on December 18, 2002.
That year, the Munro board of directors, the school for which Jonathan played, decided to create a scholarship fund in his name.
When the fund failed to get off the ground properly, Norma and her daughter Nadine took up the mantle and relaunched the foundation last month.
Since that time, Hibbert, who says at her age she "is ready for the commitment football takes", has made giant leaps towards bettering the future of young players islandwide.
On January 5 this year, the Jonathan Hibbert Foundation launched the first of what is expected to be many talent hunts at the Munro College playing field.
Under the watchful eyes of Norma, the event was a success, with 11 foreign universities offering 47 scholarships to male and female footballers across the island.
One On One caught up with Norma just before she went off to England to try to procure more scholarship opportunities for Jamaican players.
QUESTION: What is the driving force behind starting and maintaining the Hibbert Foundation.
Norma Hibbert: I understand the game of football and I've always loved it just as much as my son loved it and I want to see young people get opportunities. Life is hard but with combinations of talents like football and some academics they can make it.
Question: How does the foundation function?
NH: Well, what we have done so far is to organise a day when teams from all over Jamaica come to one venue where they play under the watch of coaches abroad.
Question: How successful do you foresee the foundation?
NH: If the support continues the way it has started, then I see great things in the horizon.
Question: What are the long terms goals of the foundation?
NH: Well, first let me speak in the short term. We have to look at those people who have already gotten scholarships. I am in touch with their coaches and I offer support wherever possible.
Question: How about the long term?
NH: Well, firstly, I've been in talks with local companies about continued sponsorship of the foundation. I've also been looking into making the Foundation into an official company with offices and an administration. As it is it's voluntary and you can't tell anybody off really when things don't get done. If you hire somebody then when things don't get done, you fire somebody. We've also been looking into talking with ISSA (Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association) and the JFF (Jamaica Football Federation) so we can get two teams from each parish, one girls' and one boys' team, to compete and show what they have.
Question: How has corporate Jamaica responded so far to the foundation?
NH: I've been impressed with the all-round response so far. The St. Elizabeth Co-Operative Credit Union, the St. Elizabeth Football Federation, Dean Elliot, Nigel Casserly, and Bernard Henry from 'Fimi Wireless', who paid the hotel fees for the U.S. coaches, have also been instrumental. Even his mother contributed a pig so the boys could eat throughout the day. I just hope that kind of support continues.
Question: What about overseas response to the programme?
NH: The coaches who were here were very impressed with the talent of both the boys and the girls, and so the continuation of things like this will interest them.
Question: Do you think your foundation will be of any benefit to Jamaica's football?
NH: I don't think it will just benefit Jamaica's football, which it must. First of all, it will bring talent that the national coaches might or might not see during their scouting, and it will be a catapult for developing talent with players going overseas. However, the real benefit is to the society. It will give youngsters a chance to see the world, to be more exposed and think globally. If you think globally and act locally then Jamaica will benefit.
