When Ryan Foster decided in 2022 that he was going to take on the Hydel High School football programme, it wasn’t a vanity project. 

It was a calculated risk built on belief. Hydel hadn’t played senior football since COVID-19, and the appetite wasn’t there. Players were unsure, scepticism was high, and there was zero financial backing from the school. Still, Foster, who is Chairman of the Hydel Board,  pressed ahead. If he was going to build something meaningful, something that could give boys a real chance at life through football, he was going to do it properly, even if it meant funding it himself. To date, more than J$40 million has been invested, sparing Hydel the financial burden. 

“The primary vision was to develop a holistic approach to youth development through football, ultimately producing student-athletes who can transition on the international and college forum,” Foster said. “It wasn’t meant to just be about winning football matches; it was about shaping young men.

But vision needs structure. So the first order of business was finding someone who could take what he saw in theory and turn it into playing style, discipline and results.

He turned to Devon Anderson in 2022, a coach known for taking a non-traditional school to prominence at Holy Trinity. “I needed a coach that would have been able to articulate the vision of what we wanted for the programme to ensure that we develop holistic student athletes who can actually matriculate after completing Hydel High School, as well as their Manning Cup experience,” Foster explained.

Anderson settled the ship, nurtured what talent there was and put systems in place to develop the next wave. What followed was remarkable. Hydel reached the Manning Cup final in 2023 and returned to the semi-finals in 2024. In that same period, they made back-to-back Champions Cup semi-finals, cementing their place among the country’s elite. In 2025, to maintain the trajectory, Alex Thomas, someone Foster says shares his philosophy, was brought in to advance the work.

But transformation beyond the field needed leadership within the institution. Foster knew that without someone at the helm who understood the balance between academics and sports, the programme would be limited. So he secured the appointment of Principal Dr Walton Small, the former Wolmer’s Boys head, and ex-ISSA president.

 “We needed a principal who would have understood what it takes to not just look at students in the classroom but also on the field of play,” Foster said. “Dr Small was able to galvanise the support within the space, steady the ship that was very unsettled when we took it over in 2022.” With the right coach and the right principal, the foundation was in place.

What came next confirmed the belief. Between 2022 and now, several from the programme have matriculated into the Jamaica Premier League. Four have represented Jamaica at the national level. Some now have professional contracts in Europe, others are attending colleges overseas. Many of the boys who didn’t go pro still benefited, achieving five or six CSEC subjects, something Foster admits was not typical of Hydel footballers before the programme was restructured.

Players like Renaldo Barret, who represented Jamaica; Rasheem Green, who earned an academic scholarship; and national youth players such as Keyanni Jackson, Michael Forbes and Omarion Henry are now key markers of the programme’s success. Forbes and others even went on to win the Premier League with Cavalier Football Club.

His leadership and knack for talent development extend to his son, Christian Foster, who at just 12, became the youngest player ever to appear in the Manning Cup 2025, while representing Hillel Academy, a programme for which he is also providing guidance for the youth football development as well. He also won the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association Under-13 Golden Boot playing for Cavaliers. 

That is the kind of pipeline Foster envisioned. And while his name is out front, Foster is quick to credit the people working in the background. “Damion Howell and Trevine Nairne have been instrumental as part of the management team since 2022. They have a remarkable job with player management, administrative structure and have provided personal funding to help move the programme forward and to where it is now,” he said.

Today, Hydel High School is spoken of as a top-four football programme in Jamaica. Not because they are the biggest or because they had the deepest pockets, but because a decision was taken in 2022 to back belief over convenience.

“I’m very proud to be part of it and to be the leader of this programme to ensure that these boys have an ability to move on,” Foster said.

From restarting after a pandemic hiatus to building a culture that produces both football talent and qualified young men, the Hydel story under Ryan Foster is not one of luck; it is one of intent, sacrifice, and belief made visible.