Big shoes to fill

FILLING THE shoes of Michael Clarke is very difficult but Corey Bennett, the man who has single handedly put Hydel High School’s girls on the map in track and field is now the man at the helm of Calabar High School’s track and field programme and is looking to do just that.

Clarke, who left the post of Calabar High School to deal with health matters, is undoubtedly the most successful high school track and field coach in the country, having guided St Jago High School, Jamaica College and Calabar to ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championship (Champs) titles.

The veteran coach has been at Calabar for the last 20 years where he has won nine titles.

“Filling the shoes of a Michael Clarke is a very difficult one based on what he has done over the years, and especially at Calabar over the past two decades, and it will be a challenging one for me and my coaching staff,” said Bennett who is also still at the helm of the Hydel programme.

“Initially when I started in August, the boys were very curious and tentative, but I did my best to instil my philosophy into the programme going forward. I think it has been working as I have gotten excellent support from the principal [Albert Corcho], past students and coaching staff so far and everyone has bought into it so far although it is early days,” said Bennett.

While Bennett is known for his ability to organise from the results he has had at both Hydel and with the National junior programme, he thinks the role at Calabar will bring challenges in other areas.

“Coaching at Calabar will always be a challenging one as it is a school with a winning mentality and the old boys and school population want nothing less. They want to get back to the glory days when Calabar was on top and we are heading in that direction going forward. You can see the enthusiasm of the boys in training and from the coaching staff.”

Bennett feels he can do both Calabar and the Hydel girls’ programmes justice. “Coaching at both institutions is not a problem as both teams train at separate times and once you can organise well, this will not be detrimental to any of the programmes. Remember also once you get the confidence of the coaching staff and they believe in you, it makes your work much easier. Coming to Calabar, most of the people know about my track record at Hydel and not because I was dealing with only females. They trust my knowledge of the sport and what I can do. Even some of the senior boys in the programme know of the outstanding results I had at Hydel and it is not about name of the person in the job but what the person can do.”

Bennett is happy about team’s performance so far.

“Last December we used the Tyser Mills meet as a time trial and we could see some good all-round results at the recent Purewater JC R Danny Williams meet as several of the boys posted personal best in their events and they were happy with their results and I think it will only get better as the season continues.”

At the last Champs, Calabar had to settle for third behind champions Kingston College and Jamaica College, but Bennett expect better this year.

“As I said before it is very difficult to fill the shoes of Michael Clarke, but with the excellent coaching staff and great support from the past students and the enthusiasm and discipline from the boys, you can see the positive vibes in training. This will definitely carry forward into competition. This augurs well for the team and this season we will be much more competitive and the end result should be awesome.”