Schoolboy football coaches impressed with Ali Cup

Several schoolboy football coaches have signalled their approval of the Ali Cole Cup format as they use the preseason tournament as part of the preparations for the upcoming Manning and daCosta Cup seasons.

The tournament pits 10 Manning Cup and 10 daCosta Cup teams against each other in 20-minute matches across three days of competition and is being held at the Excelsior High School.

Glenmuir High assistant coach Johnoy Chambers said the game’s length allows for his team to work on starting games strong as well as placing them in the mindset of holding on to favourable results in the late stages of a match.

“We’re using it for training purposes,” he said. “The matches are 20 minutes long so we get to work on our first 20 minutes and our last 20 minutes as well. I think the organisers are doing a good job and are exposing these players to high quality competition so big up and kudos to them.”

Jermain Douglas, head coach of Central High, also applauded the efforts of the Ali Cup organisers.

He said the shorter and fast-paced game format is a tactic he has implemented in his training sessions throughout their preseason.

Douglas believes the Ali Cup environment encourages his players to play a more attacking-style of football and teaches a spirit of resilience to fight for game-winning results.

“We do a lot of this in our training and in preseason we’re seeing it bear fruit,” Douglas explained. “If there are 20 minutes in a game and you’re 1-0 down, you will still think that you have a chance because it is something you have done before. So I support this format and I think it is something good.”

Mannings School assistant coach Kevin Williams said the Ali Cup also gives schools an opportunity to test their team’s preparations against potential rivals ahead of the schoolboy season.

Williams said it ensures coaches will be able to see what adjustments the teams will need to make ahead of the September start to the season.

“It’s a brilliant format because what it does is help you bring your team together and see where you want to be. You’ll get to see a lot of different teams knowing that you’ll see some of these teams again in the future. So you can see their weaknesses and probably will want to exploit it if you meet them along the way.”

The competition started yesterday with the daCosta teams in action and will continue today with the Manning Cup teams taking the field.

The Ali Cup will end tomorrow with the play-offs and final set for the Excelsior High School field.