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Departing Wilson happy with accomplishments at Holmwood
PAUL A REID Observer writer
Friday, May 10, 2013
MONTEGO BAY, St James — One of the most successful eras in high school sport will come to a close soon when Maurice Wilson turns over the reigns of the girls' track and field programme at Holmwood Technical to a successor to be named.
Wilson announced earlier that this year would be his last as head coach at Holmwood and in his 17 years at the Manchester school, has led them to 10 ISSA Girls Championships titles in the last 11 years since 2003 and 17 Penn Relays Championships of Americas plaques.
WILSON... what I brought to Holmwood is a thinking that anything is possible
Only Vere Technical's 15-straight Girls Champs wins between 1979 and 1993; Kingston College's 14 straight Boys Champs titles between 1962 and 1975 and St Elizabeth Technical's 13 Headley Cup victories between 1979 and 1991 compare to Holmwood's run of nine straight in Girls Champs victories.
In his time at Holmwood, Wilson, who has been named head coach of the national teams to the last two global track and field championships — the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and last year's Olympic Games in London — saw the rise of the school as a track and field powerhouse and dozens of athletes represent the country at several levels while others have gone on to universities overseas.
It was a satisfied and contented-looking Wilson who told the Jamaica Observer at the recent Penn Relays in Philadelphia that he was happy with his accomplishments.
"What I brought to Holmwood is a thinking that anything is possible with a plan and with some persistence," he said. "I have made people believe in themselves. This was a school that was not on the map as far as track and field was concerned and (we) created that sort of programme that we see now."
Wilson said the self-belief extended beyond just track and field but to life itself. "They (athletes) are now strong believers in themselves, not just in sports but in other areas of the curriculum," he said.
It took Wilson and his staff, led by manager Chester McCarthy, five years to win his first Girls Champs title in 2003, but tasted international success with seven of his 17 Penn Relays victories between 1998 and 2002.
Holmwood Technical has won eight high school girls 4x800m titles at Penn Relays, the most by any one school at the meet, one more than Vere Technical while Edwin Allen won five and St Elizabeth Technical won three for a grand total of 25 by Jamaican schools. Manchester High and St Jago each won one.
Holmwood has also won five 4x400m and four 4x100m, including one last month at Penn Relays and has the meet record 3:34.75 in the 4x400m set in 2001 as well as five of the top 10 times ever run at the meet.
While he said he expected success when he went to Holmwood and presented the principal then with a 'Vision 2000' plan, he said he kept something to himself. "The plan I had in the back of my head and which I did not reveal to anyone was to supersede all the other local performances in terms of girls' track and field," he said. "I did not know the success would be of this magnitude but there was definitely a plan in place to succeed," Wilson added.
The succession planning has been in place for a while at Holmwood and Wilson said he is confident in the abilities of his assistants to take over and take the programme to a higher level.
"Some of the assistants went to GC Foster Sports College (where he taught them) and I am very confident they should be able to take over the job," he noted. "If they don't show to management they are up to the task I would have to come back out of retirement," Wilson said.
Wilson will have a say in who will take over from him, but says it will take a lot of time and commitment, and while he refused to say whom he would be recommending for the job, he said he hoped the person would be able to find time in his busy schedule.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz2Su8ISkTO
PAUL A REID Observer writer
Friday, May 10, 2013
MONTEGO BAY, St James — One of the most successful eras in high school sport will come to a close soon when Maurice Wilson turns over the reigns of the girls' track and field programme at Holmwood Technical to a successor to be named.
Wilson announced earlier that this year would be his last as head coach at Holmwood and in his 17 years at the Manchester school, has led them to 10 ISSA Girls Championships titles in the last 11 years since 2003 and 17 Penn Relays Championships of Americas plaques.
WILSON... what I brought to Holmwood is a thinking that anything is possible
Only Vere Technical's 15-straight Girls Champs wins between 1979 and 1993; Kingston College's 14 straight Boys Champs titles between 1962 and 1975 and St Elizabeth Technical's 13 Headley Cup victories between 1979 and 1991 compare to Holmwood's run of nine straight in Girls Champs victories.
In his time at Holmwood, Wilson, who has been named head coach of the national teams to the last two global track and field championships — the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and last year's Olympic Games in London — saw the rise of the school as a track and field powerhouse and dozens of athletes represent the country at several levels while others have gone on to universities overseas.
It was a satisfied and contented-looking Wilson who told the Jamaica Observer at the recent Penn Relays in Philadelphia that he was happy with his accomplishments.
"What I brought to Holmwood is a thinking that anything is possible with a plan and with some persistence," he said. "I have made people believe in themselves. This was a school that was not on the map as far as track and field was concerned and (we) created that sort of programme that we see now."
Wilson said the self-belief extended beyond just track and field but to life itself. "They (athletes) are now strong believers in themselves, not just in sports but in other areas of the curriculum," he said.
It took Wilson and his staff, led by manager Chester McCarthy, five years to win his first Girls Champs title in 2003, but tasted international success with seven of his 17 Penn Relays victories between 1998 and 2002.
Holmwood Technical has won eight high school girls 4x800m titles at Penn Relays, the most by any one school at the meet, one more than Vere Technical while Edwin Allen won five and St Elizabeth Technical won three for a grand total of 25 by Jamaican schools. Manchester High and St Jago each won one.
Holmwood has also won five 4x400m and four 4x100m, including one last month at Penn Relays and has the meet record 3:34.75 in the 4x400m set in 2001 as well as five of the top 10 times ever run at the meet.
While he said he expected success when he went to Holmwood and presented the principal then with a 'Vision 2000' plan, he said he kept something to himself. "The plan I had in the back of my head and which I did not reveal to anyone was to supersede all the other local performances in terms of girls' track and field," he said. "I did not know the success would be of this magnitude but there was definitely a plan in place to succeed," Wilson added.
The succession planning has been in place for a while at Holmwood and Wilson said he is confident in the abilities of his assistants to take over and take the programme to a higher level.
"Some of the assistants went to GC Foster Sports College (where he taught them) and I am very confident they should be able to take over the job," he noted. "If they don't show to management they are up to the task I would have to come back out of retirement," Wilson said.
Wilson will have a say in who will take over from him, but says it will take a lot of time and commitment, and while he refused to say whom he would be recommending for the job, he said he hoped the person would be able to find time in his busy schedule.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz2Su8ISkTO
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