Godfrey "Blight" Achille.
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The ball travels with a rhythmic movement as the male bodies bond into a productive whole to form teams within each block across the Casablanca enclave. The population expansion in the two decades between 1930 and 1950 provided the human and material resources that fuelled an explosion of sporting activity in the area. The youth organized teams in football, basketball and rugby taking their athletic skills from the streets to the major organizations for organized sports in the city. On weekends and holidays major athletic activities involving multiple events were held on Quarry and Oxford streets. |
The sports icons of earlier periods Bertram Dufont, Ellis Guerra, Felix ‘Fedo’ Blake and Theo Porter expressed their athletic prowess as members of teams organized in the middle class dominated sectors of Port of Spain. The youth of the post war period within the Casablanca footprint organized football teams Middlesex, Wellington, Hummingbirds, Sheffield United, Oxford, Celtics; basketball teams Hummingbirds, and PanAM Jetweills and a rugby team Badjacks. The participants on these sporting teams were aligned with the two neighbourhood steelbands Casablanca and City Syncopators. The harmonious relationship between the two bands encouraged both social cohesiveness and spirited competition within the area. Some of the teams gained both local and national prominence due to their achievements in competition. Hummingbirds won championships in basketball and football whilst PanAM Jetweills was victorious in basketball. The mentors and sporting leaders such as Baron Arrieta, Knolly Williams, Norris ‘Doggie’ James, Laurie Miller and Godfrey ‘Blight’ Achille contributed to the building of that collection of successful teams.