Warren Barrett is Chatham's most famous son

Warren Barrett is best remembered as Jamaica's senior football team captain and goalkeeper during the 1998 World Cup in France, but he has not lost the humble attitude with which he was raised while growing up in the rural district of Chatham, St James.

Born on September 7, 1970, to parents St Hilman Barrett and Elaine Barrett, he spent the first five years of his life in Chatham with his grandmother, with whom he regularly attended the neighbouring Bethtephil Baptist Church.

"I grew up with my siblings and my grandmother, and we had a lot of fun times. Every night, we would be at Bethtephil Baptist Church, and I guess that's where the seed was planted because today, I'm a Christian," the 48-year-old Barrett recalled.

The family later moved to Montego Bay, where Barrett attended Cornwall College and played on the school's daCosta Cup football team. He later became a member of the local Violet Kickers team ahead of his membership on the Rene Simoes-coached national team.

PASSIONATE ABOUT

THE GAME

"I was passionate about football from the time I entered Cornwall College, and it was my dream to play for the national team. If somebody had told me years before that I would end up playing in a World Cup, I would've called them crazy," said Barrett, who now serves as goalkeeping coach for the national team and the Cornwall College and Montego Bay United teams.

"Persons who know me from my formative years are very proud to know that a son of Chatham was the first person to captain a World Cup team," Barrett added. "I'm from humble beginnings, and people who know me will tell you that I'm the same person today as I was when I was in high school before all the fame and glory," he said.