Friends in Manning Cup coaching rivalry
Nannyville Masters trio’s teams drawn in same group
Published:Wednesday | November 17, 2021 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
IN AN interesting twist of fate, three great friends who are in their first stint as head coach or assistant coach in this season’s Inter-Secondary Schools’ Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy Manning Cup competition were pitched against each other in the same group (B), setting up a rivalry among the trio of friends.
Donovan Lofters and Jahmiah Pettigrew are in their first stint as head coaches of their alma mater, Camperdown High and Dunoon Technical, respectively, while Everdean Scarlett, who is assisting Xavier Gilbert at Excelsior, is coaching schoolboy football for the first time.
The three have been playing and competing against each other since they were youngsters.
However, they all confess that their competitiveness is more friendly than rivalry.
Lofters, who has had the best start of the three with two wins, made the point that though winning is the objective and bragging rights is always nice, they try to assist each other to grow and improve.
THERE IS HISTORY
“I don’t know if you can call it a rivalry, but there is a history. We have played for the same Masters League side (Nannyville Masters) for over five years. We play ball every Monday and Wednesday for the past four years, and we are all now coaches,” said Lofters.
“And it is just a coincidence that we are all in the same group, playing against each other for the Manning Cup,” he added.
Pettigrew’s Dunoon has already lost 0-5 to Camperdown and 1-6 to Excelsior. But both Scarlett and Lofters recognise the issues he has of the others (teams) in the zone, Lofters noted.
“Jahmiah, it’s his first time at Dunoon and they are facing a lot of challenges, and I have kept him up to date with almost everything. So it is friends before anything else,” he insisted.
Pettigrew admitted that when the draw came out, there was a lot of bantering about who will be better.
Although in his team’s first two matches he lost to his rivals, Pettigrew disclosed that after the games they both helped him explored the best ways of moving forward.
“We always seek to help each other and I want my fellow coaches to do well, especially in their first time,” he added.
Scarlett admits he would hate to be on the losing side when he plays his two brethren.
However, whatever the result, he insists the rivalry is just fun for them.
“As friends and coaches, you definitely don’t want to be on the losing side, to be laughed at you when you sit down for a few drinks.
“But it is just fun for us. There’s no malice, even though we are rivals. We want football to be a winner, and our philosophy is to impart knowledge to the youths and develop them mentally, physically, tactically and technically, and get them ready for the professional world,” said Scarlett.