Wedderburn giving STETHS a winning edge

Western Bureau

Most coaches prowl the touchline from their designated coach's area, many are often found seated with steely-eyed fixation on the action on the field of play, but St Elizabeth Technical High School's (STETHS) head coach, Omar Wedderburn, kneels for the entire duration of a game.

His unique vantage point, he asserts, gives him a different perspective from most and affords him thinking time to plot strategies and tactics in real time.

Wedderburn has made the one-knee pose his own among local football coaches and, with it, he has laced up a string of successes only few can even match.

Known in some circles as the 'philosophical coach', Wedderburn has managed to groom a STETHS team he took control of after former head coach Andrew Edwards left for rivals Munro College in 2012.

"We have to give Andrew credit for what he achieved at STETHS. He was the one who set us on this path. I only continued where he left the programme, adding my own flavour to it," Wedderburn said.

WINNING FORMULA

Since then, he has been instrumental in guiding them to two daCosta Cup crowns, reaching the final in five straight years, serving as Edwards' assistant for the 2011 and 2012 teams that lost in the final to Rusea's and Glenmuir, respectively.

Wedderburn found the winning formula in 2013 when he guided STETHS to the daCosta Cup title, lost to Clarendon College in the 2014 final, then stormed back to lift the title for a fifth time in the school's history in 2015.

In that time, they have racked up an amazing six-successive Ben Francis knockout titles, and could make it seven on the trot when they tackle Lennon High in the final this afternoon.

"It is true that a team adopts the coach's personality and attitude. I am happy my players see me as a role model and have adopted the winning mentality. It is always about being first for me," the STETHS coach stated.

"I have had success, but it's not me alone. We have built a great system here at STETHS. The principal, all the teachers, students, and even the security personnel, have bought into it," Wedderburn reasoned.

-P.C.