Reynolds hoping to bring more success to St Catherine High

Newly appointed technical director of the St Catherine High School football programme, Vassell Reynolds, says youth development will be a major focus during his tenure as he seeks to build a foundation for sustained success at the institution.

Reynolds, one of Jamaica's most accomplished schoolboy football coaches, has signed a three-year contract with the St John's Road-based school, where he replaces long-serving  coach Anthony Patrick at the helm of the programme.

The former Kingston College coach brings an impressive résumé to St Catherine High. He guided Kingston College to the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup title in 2024 and led Rusea's High to the daCosta Cup crown in 2017. He also won the Walker Cup with Wolmer's Boys in 2015 and the all-island Flow Super Cup in 2016.

"It is a good feeling to be offered to lead such a programme of this magnitude. It gives you a special feeling, and it speaks volumes to my hard work and commitment and accomplishments over the years, and I am pretty happy to be taking on the leadership of this programme. Hopefully, I can make the sort of contribution that is expected of me in the near future," said Reynolds. 

The experienced coach noted that his primary responsibility will be to establish structures that will ensure long-term success across all age groups within the football programme.

"It's a three-year contract and my role is a technical director. It is just about putting a structure in place that will be committed to the task. I will be placing a lot of emphasis on  youth development systems, because the aim is to build a good foundation that will lead to success right through the different age groups," Reynolds said. 

He joins St Catherine High after ending a three-year stint at Kingston College. During his time there, he guided the North Street-based institution to the Manning Cup title in 2024 before his contract was not renewed earlier this month.

Reynolds takes over a programme that has enjoyed considerable success under Patrick's leadership. St Catherine High captured the Walker Cup KO titles in 2019, 2021 and 2025, while consistently challenging among the top teams in the Manning Cup.

"There is no doubt about it, St Catherine High School has been one of the most consistent performers at the schoolboy level, especially at the Manning Cup level under the leadership of Anthony Patrick and they have won a number of Walker Cups. So the task now is to go in there as a technical director to add my own experience in terms of building on what is there and to use that experience to add something extra to the programme and to take it to the next level," he said. 

“Hopefully, we can continue to do well as a school, and, hopefully, one day we can win the prestigious prize,  the Manning Cup, which has been eluding the school over these past couple of years," Reynolds stated.