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St. George's College Years.

Sports (cricket-pace, mid-order, wicketkeeping, soccer- GK, sportsday, baseball - Higgy)
Academics
Adventurous: cute in early, ran him afoul of rigid discipline…. Resisted tight rigidity….non-conformist…
Black Spider
Contemporaries well-known, not so well known…

Luigi entered StGC in1961, less than 5 years after Common Entrance was first instituted and so this young, afro-centric lad was among the very first group of kids “thrown” into a sort of “melting pot” of kids from Chinese families, sons of Diplomats from other nations, sons of those “cash-rich” Jamaicans, and sons of “brain-rich” (but cash-poor) mostly afro-centric Jamaicans. Visitors to this site should allow their imagination to simply swing across the full gamut of social dynamics which included a sort of hierarchical embracing of kids who excelled in either academics, athletics or both arenas. That is, if a boy was not adept at either, he would sort of be treated with the class distinction prevalent in the at-large JA society of the times…

It was against this back-drop that Luigi at first flourished academically but later this natural academic brilliance was somewhat “dulled” by the distractions of his adventurous nature and his more compelling athleticism. Needless to say, as Luigi’s athletic prowess garnered him selections to cricket, soccer, and baseball teams, so too was his “acceptance” within certain circles which “lured” Luigi to spend less time studying and more and more time participating in sports and “hanging out” with his buddies, among the closest of whom were Leighton Smellie (RIP), Everton Nevers, Cornel "granny" Marshall, Garth “Bugs” Anderson, Earl McGregor, and Billy Perkins (whose stay at St. GC was very short-lived).

Early on, Luigi impressed Fr. Maurice Feres with his mastery of Latin, Mr. John T. Rupley with his keen grasp of complex Geometric "theorems", and the “volatile”, "tightly-wound" Fr. Robert Higgins with his devotion to Geography and Religion (AND BASEBALL). But… it was in soccer (under the discipline-laced tutelage of “Scholastic” John Talbot ) and to a lesser degree cricket, where Luigi really made his mark at St. GC. Of course there are those who would also amusingly incite that Luigi might have “minored” in prank-pulling and Alpha Academy girls’ heart-breaking….   since Luigi’s contemporaries can well attest that Fr. Gerald Bowman (“Gerry B” - Dean of Discipline) and Luigi “developed” a very close, long-standing “relationship” and the numerous “Alpha girls” who implored sister Sonia to do the “set-up” with them and her brother “Spider” (because as you will now see, Luigi “earned his 2^nd. nickname while at St. GC).

COME IN DA BLACK SPIDER (adios ….Shovel-head)
There are, still to this very day, several of Luigi’s St. GC contemporaries who affectionately refer to him as the Black Spider. This moniker was bestowed on him by the late great Georgian Dennis Ziadie (RIP) who, while watching Luigi execute some spectacular “saves” during a Colts soccer match at Emmett Park, muttered to Lascelles (Muggy) Graham, Dennis Chung et al, “… that little youth must have about a million hands & legs….him just like a spider…” and since Luigi always stood “between the sticks” dressed in full black GK gears… thus the nom-de-plume “Black Spider” was born. Shortly after Luigi’s passing, Patrick “Beenie” Euston and Khann Cross called to express their condolences and their referring to Luigi as the Spider triggered a lengthy “trip down memory lane” resurrecting some of the Spider’s exploits between the sticks.

CRICKET & BASEBALL & SPORTSDAY
Luigi also played Junior Colts cricket (middle order batsman/wicket-keeper) and Baseball for Fr. Higgins. In addition his house - Regis - could always count on him for valuable “points” in the jumps and 880 yds on Sporstday.

LUIGI'S MENTORING EFFORTS EXTEND BEYOND HIS SIBLINGS:
Famed Georgian soccer player Kesang "Kippy" Chin still retains glorious memories of Luigi & Leighton Smellie "nurturingly" guiding his and Russell "Dos" Bell's early athletic efforts while at St GC and Kippy still credits Luigi with providing similar support (and overall protection) long after he left St GC and throughout his playing days at Golden Aces and while Kippy was a student-athlete at the University of the West Indies (UWI) [click HERE to see more on Kippy at UWI].

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (AMDG)
The English translation of the St. GC LATIN school motto reads “…..Towards the Greater Glory of God…..”. Those very close to Luigi have often mused that there must be more divine meaning to the fact that Luigi’s given names “….Glenford Anthony Michael Davey…..” have first initials which also represent the first initials of the Latin motto of St GC. So…. was Luigi destined to attend StGC??? Was the besieging of Minister Allen’s office a mere “playing out of God’s will and destiny” by those caring, concerned Nuns & Priests??? How different, if at all, would Luigi’s life pathway have been if he had attended KC??? MMMHHHHH.. One is only left to wonder....

LEARNING TO RIDE/DRIVE:
Luigi was the first of his siblings to learn how to ride a bicycle, taking his initial, wobbly pedalling sojourns under the doting guidance of his very athletic Aunt Erna who often rode all the way from her home in Spanish Town to spend quality time with her nieces and nephews. Then, eventually, Dad would at first allow Luigi to just "side-steer" the black Hillman Minx (tag no.: J5123) and, as he grew, to actually sit in the driver's seat of the compact Morris Minor (tag no.: N7673) and soon Luigi was driving around the block on Beatriz Crescent and Rosalie Avenue while his siblings admiringly exclaimed   "...Glen can drive... Glen can drive"!!

CONTEMPORARIES
At St. George’s, notable contemporaries/ classmates of Luigi included younger brother Michael, Cornel “Granny” Marshall (Tyrone’s father), Cornel “Tomorrow’s Children” Marshall, Tony, Carl, Russell & Neville “Bertis” Bell, Dorsey Crooks, Arthur Dixon, Khann Cross, Michael “Natty” Levy, Undel (Siddie) Williams, Leighton Smellie (RIP), Pluto Shervington, “Galba” Chang, Dr. Errol Prince, Bruce Golding, Nigel “Pummie” Goodison (Michigan State Univ.), Don Cooper, Hubie Chin, Everton Nevers, Trevor Munroe, Errol Huie, Rupert Cunningham, Trevor Depass, Desmond & Carl Reid, Franklyn Bailey, Michael Patterson, Anthony “Flash” Allison, Lennox Robinson, Hector Allen (RIP), Bunny Pommells, Patrick “Beenie” Euston, Dr. Aggrey Irons, Kesang “Kippy” Chin (son of famed musician Kes Chin & The Souvenirs), Patrick Reid (with whom Colts GK duties were shared) the “four Dennises” - Charley, Ziadie, Chung & Barnett, et al.

Luigi left StGC at a young age but he certainly was ready for the “Real World”.