Sacrifices paying off for Cornwall

Warren Barrett, assistant coach of Cornwall College, which defeated St George's College 2-0 in the semi-finals of the ISSA Champions Cup on Saturday, said that all the sacrifices they have made are starting to bear fruit.

Barrett said that Cornwall, the only unbeaten team in the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup, is confident heading into the semi-finals of that competition against Frome Technical High School at the Montego Bay Sports Complex tomorrow.

On Saturday, they contest the Champions Cup final against Jamaica College at the same venue.

"When you look at it, we are still in for three titles. Sadly, it's not four as the format for the Ben Francis has been changed. I think it's the hard work of the boys. Some of them have sacrificed their summer holidays going to the States or coming back early just to be together to prepare themselves to try and win the daCosta Cup for a record 13th time," said Barrett.

He said that the coaching staff has also made many sacrifices, giving up family time.

"But at the end of the day, we know it's for our beloved institution. As an old boy, I'm very passionate about my school and want to help these youngsters achieve their goals and go as far as we possibly can in the sport," he added.

Barrett, who believes that players make good coaches, said the coaching staff was impressed with the continuous improvement of the team.

"The boys basically have adopted and understood what is required of them, especially when we got to the second round. We were far from pleased with the performances before the second round. However, from the knockout stage against Titchfield, we started seeing more consistency and improvement in a number of players we were concerned about," said Barrett.

He said that the team has flourished at the right time and that winning is contagious and breeds confidence.

"Our boys are really confident right now ... . We are going into a semi-final against Frome very confident because we know it's what we do on the day that counts," he added.