Alumni News
In the Spotlight!! - Dalkeith Dempster
Many people go through life thinking that it is simply an existence that we must endure come what may. They usually revert to intense study and introverted behaviors that are the hallmark of what people think needs to be done in order to be successful. Well this month’s profilee is the total opposite of those sentiments. Dalkeith Dempster, by all stretches of the imagination can be labeled a jokester at heart. A fun loving individual who never ceases to have fun despite the circumstances in which he finds himself.
A gifted batsman and wicketkeeper, he is known for his aggressive batting style and also his quickness behind the stumps. As the old saying goes “cotching up” behind the stumps was his specialty. Typically, many wicket keepers stay back when pacers and medium pacers are bowling, but those of us who can remember watching him at work will definitely remember him getting batsmen out by stumping with medium pacers bowling. Only Mark “Soup Bone” Johnson has this writer ever seen do that.
His exploits on the cricket field did not hinder him from “hitting the books” and he was a man true to his word in this regard. Behind his back, many of his teammates considered him a nerd, but one could never tell because of his jokester attitude and his genuine care for his teammates.
His cricketing exploits at the College include the following:
· Grade 7 – 9 Under 14 cricket
· Grade 8 – 10 Colts cricket (Under 15)
· Grade 10 – 13 Sunlight Cup Cricket (Captain 1985)
He played cricket for the College from his first year on the campus at Elleston Road, and continued throughout his entire scholastic career at the College. He was so good a player in his youthful days that he was selected to represent Jamaica in the Northern Telecom youth tournament in Guyana in 1985. His long time friend and Sunlight captain at the time, Derron Dixon also made that team.
He also was a man of the books and after completed fifth form (11th grade), he went on to sixth form (12th and 13th grades) where he completed three (3) GCE A’ Levels and the General Paper in the Arts.
Not only was Dempster a sports man and a academician, he also volunteered his time and talents to the school magazine as sub editor and served as both a Student Council representative and a Sub Prefect while in sixth form.
With cricket in his blood he moved on to the University of the West Indies were both the academic and cricket exploits continued at the university, Lucas Cricket Club and Melbourne Cricket Club. His post Kingston College cricket career included:
1. Captained the Taylor Hall and UWI teams between 1987 – 1990 (Including UWI 40th Anniversary commemorative team with former WI players Roland Holder and Anderson Cummins).
2. Spearheaded a revival of cricket at Mona which say the university victorious in Inter-collegiate and a multiple-year winning streak for Taylor Hall. First team from Mona to beat a Cave Hill team in cricket after 15 inter-campus games.
3. Represented Lucas and Melbourne in the top national cricket competitions between 1985 and 1998
4. Served on the Executive Committee of Melbourne Cricket club. Promoted the second ever night cricket game played as a fundraiser at MCC at Derrymore Road.
Not to let only his cricketing ability speak for itself while at the University of West Indies, Dalkeith continued with the passion he had for the books as well. His post Kingston College education includes:
1. Graduated 1990 - BSc (with Honors) Economics and Accounting
2. Diploma Public Administration
3. Masters Business Administration Public Management
Currently, he is once again in the books attempting to obtain his Certified Public Accountant’s certification. If his past academic achievements are any indication, we will simply wait to hear if he did so with honors.
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Similar to all the profilees we had on this campus who basically branched out beyond their sphere of influence, Dalkeith is no different. Making a huge change from cricket, he used his talents for administration to assist two very different sports from cricket. He served the Jamaica Netball Association as Transportation Manager during the successful staging of the Caribbean Under 16 Netball championship in 2000. He also served the track and field community in the capacity of Deputy Chairman Transportation Committee with the IAAF Local Organizing Committee for the World Junior Championships hosted in Kingston 2002.
He is an unmarried father of three (3) beautiful children, Ashleigh, Sidnie and Courtney, and his hobbies include all sports. This is another example of a fellow College man from the eighties doing us proud. Please take a moment and send Dalkeith a note at dalkdemp@yahoo.com and let him know how proud you are of his accomplishments.