Calabar coach wary of entering Walker Cup cold

Calabar High School head coach Kemar Ricketts has warned his players that their 1-0 pre-season victory over Kingston College (KC) will count for little when the traditional rivals meet in today’s ISSA Walker Cup knockout competition at Stadium East.

Calabar got the better of KC in the David ‘Wagga’ Hunt Football Classic during the summer, but with a place in the Walker Cup quarter-finals at stake, Ricketts believes today’s contest presents an entirely different challenge.

“Wagga Hunt has no bearing on the game because that was a pre-season tournament,” Ricketts said.

“This game is a knockout and you want to get to the next level, so you want to put all in.”

First competitive outing

The second-round fixture will be Calabar’s first competitive outing of the season after first-round opponents Dunoon Park Technical withdrew from the competition.

KC, meanwhile, already have a game under their belt, having defeated St Mary’s College 3-0 in the opening round.

That difference is not lost on Ricketts, particularly with his Calabar squad still preparing for the start of their season.

“With the change of the competition in terms of having that much rhythm, KC would have played a game [while] we haven’t played as yet,” he said.

Still, Ricketts does not believe Calabar should approach the contest with fear despite acknowledging the quality within the KC squad.

Ricketts, who was appointed head coach earlier this year, expects a stern test from the boys from North Street.

“KC’s team is a good team. They’re one of the favourites to win this competition,” he said.

“If you look at the individuals that they have there, they’re packed with talent, but I’m sure that we can cause them some problems as well.”

The Calabar coach believes the biggest difference today will be the nature of the competition itself.

While teams can recover from setbacks during the Manning Cup group stage, Ricketts said the knockout format demands a more measured approach.

“In a league game, you can take more risks, you can do more things,” he said.

“In a knockout game, you still want to be a bit cautious of what is happening and you want to grind this result out.”

Ricketts said his players have been adapting well to his methods despite the challenges of preparing a young squad.

Today’s contest will also mark his first game in Corporate Area schoolboy football, having previously coached Munro College and B.B. Coke High.

Ricketts spent nearly two decades at B.B. Coke, serving eight years as assistant coach and nine as head coach. He led the school to its first schoolboy football title when they captured the Ben Francis Cup in 2019.

Now embarking on a new chapter in his coaching career, he is hoping to make a positive start.

“It’s a new challenge, it’s a new environment, but I’ve been adapting well,” he said.

“Everything will never be perfect, but we just put in the work on a day-to-day basis and just hope that the boys can stay focused and handle their part of it.”

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

Today’s Games

Charlie Smith vs Vauxhall at Charlie Smith

Eltham vs Campion at Eltham

St Catherine vs Wolmer’s at St Catherine

KC vs Calabar at Stadium East

JC vs STGC at Ashenheim Stadium

All games begin at 3:30 p.m.