Tappa enjoying transition to club football
Published:Thursday | February 16, 2023 | 12:40 AMLivingston Scott /Gleaner Writer
AFTER SPENDING most of his coaching career with the Jamaica national senior team, former Reggae Boyz coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore is enjoying the day-to-day rigours of club football.
Speaking at the first Jamaica Premier League (JPL) press conference this season, held at the office of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) yesterday, Whitmore said he was happy to be back in the league and that he was feeling no pressure with the new demands of club football at Mount Pleasant Football Academy.
“There is no pressure whatsoever,” he told the gathering.
“It is good to be back in football. It is good to be doing something that you love, so there is no pressure.”
The only time Whitmore coached in the local Premier league was in the 2006-07 season when he coached Seba (now Montego Bay United) to the top of the league before he was drafted into the national programme after half a season with them.
“I find it very interesting,” said Whitmore.
“As a coach, you want to be out there every single day, and that is the difference between the national and the local Premier league – you are more active on a day- to-day basis,” he said.
Whitmore, who was sacked as national team coach in December 2021, after the Reggae Boyz failed disappointingly in Concacaf World Cup qualifying, now coaches the club many consider to be the most financially well-supported in the country.
Mount Pleasant, while assembling some of the best local talent, is yet to win the Jamaica Premier League.
But Whitmore is not worried about the pressure that comes with the job.
“Everything in life comes with some pressure, but it is how you handle it, and I think we are doing that at the moment.
“But it is not just me alone. We have a team that is capable of achieving great things, and that is what we are looking for,” said Whitmore.
After his brief stint with Seba, Whitmore’s first stint as national coach came in 2007 as interim, replacing Bora Milutinović.
He was then retained by Rene Simoes as assistant coach a year later.
However, Simoes was fired soon after, with Tappa resuming his interim role.
He was made national coach in 2009 for the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, and coached the team from 2009-13.
After that failed campaign, he was demoted to the national under-20 team from 2014-15.
He would return to national senior duties in 2016 and remained until he was relieved of the post in 2021.