Event replaces traditional True Blue weekend soccer match

St George’s College and Jamaica College are to meet as rivals once again: this time not on the traditional sporting field but around the sound system.

Also this time, the rivalry is not among the school boys but between the old boys associations in Florida.

The event will take place April 10 with VP Records hosting the first-ever friendly Sound Clash between St George’s College Old Boys Association of Florida, Inc. and the Jamaica College Old Boys Association of Florida, Inc.

VP Records, founded in 1979 by the late Vincent ‘Randy’ Chin and his wife, Patricia Chin, is the world’s largest independent label and distributor of Caribbean music. The record label, based in Queens, New York is known for releasing music by notable artistes in reggae, dancehall and soca.

Pandemic forces organisers to pivot to sound clash

The sound clash, dubbed, ‘True Blue Sound Clash of 2021’, is replacing the traditional True Blue weekend soccer event held every year.

Organisers of the event said the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to present a match between the two schools in a different way. 

This year marks the 17th year for the South Florida event, though being held in a different format. The True Blue two-day weekend event has always attracted soccer enthusiasts from Canada, the Caribbean, Central American and South America and is held each year in honour of Dennis Ziadie, who coached players at both schools to Manning Cup victories.

The yearly fundraising event provides the schools with the funding necessary to present scholarships to Jamaica College and St George’s College students. This year’s True Blue Sound Clash will be streamed live on VP Records’ Youtube page starting at 7 pm.

The MC for the clash will be popular radio personality Steven ‘Sir Rockwell’ Warner.

Nearly 2,000 soccer enthusiasts and supporters typically participate in the annual event.

VP Records association with the event

In speaking about VP Record’s association with the event, Director of Business Development Richard A. Lue expressed his company’s pleasure to host this Clash on its platform.

Lue said VP was looking forward to the musical competition between two great schools. 

“I can’t wait to be supporting my school Cornwall College in the future,” Lue remarked.

VP Records, which is based in New York City, is a pioneer in the reggae and soca music industry. VP Records is the only record label that represents the entire spectrum of Caribbean music.