SCSS have reached the playoffs in all six tournaments organised by the Ministry of Youth Development & Sports for the first term of 2025-2026. They’re leading the pack in Under-15 and Under-19 boys’ football, Under-16 and Under-19 girls’ netball, Under-16 boys’ basketball and Under-16 table tennis.
But if Soufrière are having a moment, it’s a long one. District 8 (Soufrière and Canaries) are the two-time Inter-District primary school track and field champions, and SCSS have been nearly untouchable in schools’ netball for the better part of a decade. Their basketball team have reached the finals three years running, though they’ve yet to clinch the title. They’re back in the semifinals on Tuesday, with a strong chance of advancing to Thursday’s final, which would mark their fourth straight appearance.
“Yeah, another semifinal journey for us. Fingers crossed we can take it over this year,” said coach Marc Antoine, after his team’s 48–38 quarterfinal win over Leon Hess Comprehensive Secondary School last Thursday.
“The game wasn’t that tough in the sense that we knew what we had to do; just that our execution today was deplorable. We missed many, many easy layups. That’s something we’ll have to go back and work on. But all in all, the guys stuck to the plan. They did what they had to do.”
The boys from Sulphur City are itching to return to the finals, and this time, they’re hungry to go one better. They’ve already been beaten by defending champions in the prelims, and they’ll be eager to settle the score if both teams make it to the title game.
Antoine is no stranger to high-stakes basketball. Though SCSS have finished runners-up nearly every year since COVID, he also coaches the Soufrière Kings, two-time defending champions in the KFC National Basketball League.
“I guess the X factor would be me,” he told St. Lucia Times with a laugh. “It’s just a continuation I always look for. I try to groom the guys from Form Two, Form Three, work with them, develop basic skills, build their confidence, and then they come out and show me what they can do. That’s basically it.
“Our goal is always to go as far as we can in the tournaments, hopefully the finals. So far, we’re on par. Our netballers are in the quarters. Our footballers are in the quarters. Like I said, the goal is always to get to the finals.”
