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  Football

ONE ON ONE with DAVID HUNT - Calabar's guiding light

 
DAVID HUNT has been associated with football for a long time and, with almost 30 years experience, can be classified as a veteran local coach.

Earlier this month the Kingston College old boy led Calabar High to the school's first Olivier Shield title, weeks after they had completed their third Manning Cup triumph.

In two years as the school's head football coach Hunt has had outstanding results at Calabar. He reached the Manning Cup final last year and lost to Excelsior. Calabar did well at all age group levels this season and also won the urban and national under-16 titles.

Hunt, who attended KC from 1967 to 1974, did not represent his school in the Manning Cup. In fact in those days he was an outstanding chess player who captained KC, 1972-74. Later as a national player he represented Jamaica at the Chess Olympiad in Venezuela in 1976.

He is a founding member, president and technical director of the Meadhaven United Football Club and is at present the general secretary of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA). Hunt is also a former general secretary of Minor League Football Association.

Meadhaven has also had a successful year winning the KSAFA Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 titles. They also reached the Major League final where they were beaten on penalties by Police National.

The Calabar coach is a highly qualified professional. The holder of a master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) with emphasis on marketing, Hunt has attended several courses in football administration and coaching since 1978. His first was a FIFA Coca-Cola World Development Programme Administration course held in Kingston in 1978. Among the numerous other courses he attended was a one-month Organisation of American States (OAS) Mexican Olympic Solidarity training course in Mexico City in 1984.

In mid-1993 Hunt also completed the highly regarded English FA International Coaching Preliminary Award coaching course. Earlier this year he attended the KNVB Academy international coaching course in the Netherlands and a month later did the National Soccer Coaches of America Youth Diploma Course in Kingston.

One and One caught up with Hunt just after Calabar were crowned all-island football champions.

QUESTION: How were you introduced to football coaching?

DAVID HUNT: While at university in the mid-1970s, I played for both Taylor Hall and the University of the West Indies (UWI) team. Winston Chung-Fah, the coach of Clarendon College, was then involved with Taylor Hall and I would travel with him along with the late David Haughton to Clarendon to observe him in action. Then in 1977 my younger brother and some of his friends asked me to coach the Meadowbrook United President's Cup team.

The team won its zone and was promoted to the Minor League where it lost to Arnett Gardens in the semi-finals. I have been coaching from then until now. Another person who had a lasting influence on my coaching career was George Thompson of Kingston College. I was his Manning Cup assistant in 1981-82 and took control of the team for the 1983 season.

Q: How long have you been at Calabar and how did you get the job?

DH: I have been at Calabar for the past two seasons. It all started in April 2003 when the Meadhaven Football Club had to seek new training facilities when the Meadowbrook playfield was closed. We then moved to the Calabar playfield. In November 2003 the people at Calabar asked if I would be interested in coaching their team, but I said no as I was then concentrating on Meadhaven. I suggested others who might be interested but they kept pressuring me and asked that I present a resume. In February 2004 I finally accepted and started the job in April.

Q: How were the players chosen?

DH: I put out notices calling on everyone who was interested in representing the school at the Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 levels to make themselves available for training.

Q: How would you describe the support from the school community during the season?

DH: It was good. There were challenges along the way, but the support from the administration and past students was good.

Q: What was the feeling like to win not only the Manning Cup but the Olivier Shield as well?

DH: I was personally elated. Then I also felt very happy for the players and the Calabar fraternity. I could see the joy on their faces. I was happy for the players because I knew what they had gone through. They had lost last year's Manning Cup final and the Walker Cup this season.

Q: Would you say that winning the Olivier Shield was your biggest moment as a football coach?

DH: I would rate it alongside winning the Disney Under-15 international tourney with Meadhaven in Florida in 2003. Some of the players from that tournament featured for Calabar and Manning Cup finalists Norman Manley.

Q: As a KC old boy how does it feel to coach their arch-rivals Calabar to the all-island schoolboy title?

DH: I think it is all about preparing young players to do their best and it has been a good experience. I have coached Meadowbrook High in the past.

Q: Do you think you can play a part in the national football programme?

DH: All coaches have the ambition to be involved in the national programme and I am no different. I have been involved with the national programme in the past as manager for the national Under-16 team from 1986 to 1989. I also managed the Under-19 team in 1983.

Q: Who are some of the outstanding players you have seen among your opponents this season?

DH: There were two or three outstanding players who made the All-Manning team. There was Jermaine Allen of Tivoli who I knew before, Bridgeport's Kenardo Forbes and Kemar Bennett of St. Catherine.

Q: What do you think about the quality of play this season in the Manning Cup?

DH: I think it has improved. Calabar played excellent football. Excelsior and Wolmer's also played well. To improve the quality we must expose our coaches to more international courses. We need to teach the technical aspects of the game to players at a young age and make the ball the main focus of our training.

Q: Who is your favourite international player?

DH: For all-time it is Argentina's Diego Maradona. Of those currently playing my favourites are Kaka of Brazil and Zinedine Zidane of France.

Q: When you are not coaching what are some of the things you like to do?

DH: I like reading, travelling, writing poetry and playing chess.

- Elton Tucker

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