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Mona High, Clarendon College confident in reaping rewards
August 23, 2024
Head coach Lenworth Hyde Snr trusts that the lessons learnt have enshrined a familiarity that not only defines Clarendon College's play, but strengthens their chances of retaining the daCosta Cup, symbol of schoolboy football supremacy among rural high schools.
For Craig Butler, head coach of Corporate Area Manning Cup champions, the goal of retaining their crown is no different, even while their target is directed at long-term achievements.
Both teams will kick off their title defence when the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) season gets underway on September 7.
Drawn in Group H of the daCosta Cup alongside Central High, Claude McKay, Denbigh High, Edwin Allen High, Lennon High and Thompson Town High, Clarendon College will take aim at securing their 11th rural-area trophy.
Speaking at Wednesday's launch, Hyde shared that, with the coaches and management staff at Clarendon College moulding the players from the under-14 level, this makes it easier for the players to feel and play comfortably at the daCosta Cup level.
"There's no pressure. We've been doing this from the under-14 system, so when they get to the daCosta Cup level, it's easy for us. Everybody understands the system and how we want the ball to move, so it's embedded from that level," he stated.
Clarendon College, known for their ball possession and slick passing, will again be hoping to reap rich rewards.
"When they get to this level, it's easy for me as the coach to now throatw them out there and play them, because they understand where the ball should go, and that's how I coach. We don't just allow them to go out there and come up with any bright ideas. They just put down the ball and play how I want them to play. That's why we look like that," Hyde remarked.
Urban champions Mona High, who lifted their first Manning Cup title last season under the guidance of Butler, are drawn in Group B with Charlie Smith Comprehensive High, Gaynstead High, Jonathan Grant High, Tarrant High and Waterford High.
Butler reiterated his stance of focusing on the long-term development of players under his watch, as he wants them to matriculate to the professional ranks.
"For us, it's sustained development over a long period of time. Winning is not new to us, and I think that it will continue," he said.
"Not because you're not a traditional school means you can't put in the work to help and develop Jamaica's student athlete," Butler explained. "They depend on us to develop them, give them opportunities and a future beyond schoolboy football, and that's one of the things that I'm concerned about."
