Vassell Reynolds, head coach of Kingston College (KC), said he is well aware the target will be on their backs as they are in the middle of preparations to defend both their ISSA Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles in the upcoming season.
KC took home both the urban and all-island schoolboy titles last year, which carried special significance for the school who were starting their celebrations for their 100th year anniversary.
Now with the tag as defending champions, Reynolds said their expectations remain as high as possible as they are preparing to defend their crowns.
“At Kingston College, the expectations have always been high. It takes on a new meaning this year because of the fact that we’re the defending champions and as a result, the expectations will be a little bit higher,” he told The Gleaner.
“It is going to be very challenging. We’re cognisant of the fact that it is more challenging to defend the title than to win it. When you are the defending champions, everybody wants to beat you so every match will be challenging.
He continued, “We’re hoping and we’re confident that we will prepare adequately enough to prepare us for a challenging season.”
Their preparations are off to a great start as Reynolds said the team is in a much stronger shape than they were at this stage last year.
He hopes they can continue to improve as he is eyeing further accolades to adorn the team’s trophy case.
“The aim is to play in the final schoolboy football game of the season so we’re preparing to face that journey, and we expect it will be a difficult one,” he said.
“The preparation has been very satisfying so far. The feeling is that we’re at a better place now than where we were last year in terms of our approach and how the boys have been responding.
“We just hope that the improvement will continue as it gets closer to the competition.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Reynolds explained that one of the reasons behind their improvement has been the structure in place at the school across Manning Cup, U16 and 14 football teams.
He said the Manning Cup programme shares a close relationship with their U16 and U14 teams to ensure they can continue to produce top talents at a yearly basis.
“Every year, whenever you put your foot on the field, there is an expectation of Kingston College and the boys are cognisant of that fact.” Reynolds said.
“But what we have put in place for the past few years is a programme that will can get our two youth teams adequately supplying players to the Manning Cup level.”
The way in which they have achieved this has been to invite select U16 players to train and develop with the Manning Cup teams on a yearly basis.
As a result, when players from the U16 team move up into the Manning Cup squad, they are ready to compete at the level expected of them.
“It is a strategic plan that we have. From 2023 when I started at the head of the programme, we’ve put that plan in place to assist with the transition of the players from one age group to the other.
“Every year in the Manning Cup squad, we have six or seven U16 players and we do the same for the U16, we have younger players included in those teams.”
This practice, Vassell explained, will ensure that the team is not affected by the loss of senior players on a yearly basis and will keep KC as a competitive team for the years to come.
“When making the transition, we look every year at the areas that we need to work on in terms of positions – defenders, midfielder, strikers – and work accordingly to prepare our younger players to replace senior players who are moving out of the system.”
KC will begin their Manning Cup title defence in Zone B, where they will be joined by Tivoli Gardens, Tarrant High, Charlie Smith High, Denham Town High, Kingston Technical, Haile Selassie High and Jose Marti Technical.
