2004 Winner

Please join us in congratulating Mr. Stewart on receiving the Tower Award.

CARVEL ‘DADDY’ STEWART

Growing up in our home you were surrounded with football and the Harbour View Football Club, it was an extension of our family and often times on game days we would come home to a house full of football players. My mom would be tending to wounds while my dad would be organizing everything for the game. To observe him at this time would be the best training for any aspiring football manager, how he got all the players fed, uniformed and transported to the games and back was something to marvel.

His philosophy was that he would not go home until every player was transported home and even today when traveling to away games he drives at the back of the convoy. He always believed that the players should have the best possible equipment, from football shoes to the ball itself and a lot of sacrifices were made to provide these. Often times he would fund the purchases himself only thinking of the betterment of the sport.

He has always thought that professional football was the goal for us to achieve in Jamaica, but to achieve this you had to have a fully developed youth program and a stadium to call home. The stadium he visualized and being a Civil Engineer by profession, made a reality with vast contributions from his own construction company.

The youth program he has seen grown with the hard work of other dedicated club members. This belief, that these are the intricate parts that make up a professional club is now a proven fact; the club is now able to earn income and support itself by charging admission to the stadium, renting the stadium for events and renting advertising space at the stadium.

Also, the first player traded from the club, started in our earliest youth program and grew up as a player within the club structure. Carvel now speaks of stadium rights and renting air time to the television stations for home matches, this too I know will become a reality, because that is what a visionary does, he sees the path that it is inevitable for us to take.

I personally love the game and have learned a lot about it from him. He was very supportive when I wanted to start a female program at the club, as it is a predominantly male sport, it had some resistance when females wanted to play the game, but daddy saw the need and validity for females to play the game. That is the type of visionary we are talking about, always ready to take the risks and try new things for the betterment of the sport and its players.

This is one of the reasons everyone calls him daddy, he is caring and a natural leader. People look up to him and whenever he speaks everyone listens. He works very hard at everything he does and dreams of one day retiring from his professional life and working full time at football.

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The Martello tower in Harbour View was always very symbolic to all residents. It represented a goal to achieve, something to aspire to reach and often times in football training the first one to get there would be the king for that day. Well in a lot of ways the man being presented with this award tonight is also a tower. - A tower in many symbolic ways.

First as a tower of strength and endurance, he is always calm in the face of diversity. Never defeated in the sight of trouble, no matter how bad he always found a solution. It takes great strength of character to stand behind your words and to stand up for what you believe in, and he believed in the Harbour view football club and the Harbour View community. No matter what the task he was there, bottle drive, early morning training, transporting the players home, DQ Bar-b-Q, or even trying to plant grass on a bed of rocks, he was there. Who do you go to when you need help a shoulder to lean on, a strong show of conviction or even a good lecture, DADDY? That is his nickname and just as symbolic as a tower, because we all look to our fathers for strength.

The second symbol is that of a tower of wisdom. I may have come across a more knowledgeable person in my educational and professional life but rest assured that I have not met a wiser one than he. He always seems to see the bigger picture, while still being able to clearly deduce how each of us affects it. That is why he loves the greatest sport in the world, because all the players on the team are equally important and have to connect in order to achieve that bigger picture of winning the game. And if you have ever been fortunate enough to be the recipient of one of his lectures then you completely understand this wisdom of which I speak. I remember doing 3^rd form chemistry and having difficulty with one of my assignments and asked for his help. WELL, 10 – 12 hours later and after many hum humms, I not only had the answer to my question but also a full knowledge of chemistry and its origination. But no matter how lengthy, when he speaks everyone listens.

But most of all, the symbol that enables him to be so strong and wise is the tower of love and compassion that he emanates. He has an abundance of this love and compassion for everyone around him. He is always making the effort to know everything about his players and workers and is always striving to make everyone’s life better. If you had a problem, he would try everything within his power to solve it. Both in his professional and recreational life he cares about people. Most of you have probably never heard him say I love you but I am sure that you have felt his love. And in many ways have witnessed his compassion when a player goes down on the field or an employee is sick and unable to work. He has 6 biological children but not even he could tell you the amount of school fees he has paid, or school books he has bought and you would never hear him repeat giving the last dollar out of his pocket to someone in need without even realizing that he has left himself without means for lunch. His endless contributions to the club and community is evident in the stadium and its’ employees. He has provided many residents with jobs and has given the community a structure to be proud of. I will go as far as to say that, he has probably been the single highest contributor of jobs to the community than any other individual. And to him it’s a simple concept; if someone is in need you assist them in filling that need. His philosophy on life is this, if everyone is given the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families then we would not have suffering in the world.

He is admired and loved by all his siblings, parents, children, grandchildren, friends and coworkers. So we honour him tonight, for we have all been truly blessed to know him. To my tower and yours, a great man Carvel Anthony Stewart. In honour of all your sacrifices, hard work and love we present you with this award.

If you would like to nominate someone for this award, please send us a picture of your nominee and an email to award@hviewtower.com telling us why he or she should receive this award.
Your nomination letter should not exceed 250 words.
Your nominee must be alive at the time of your nomination.