Butler, Mona aim for Manning Cup title

Craig Butler believes Mona High have a real shot at the Corporate Area's schoolboy football Manning Cup title after he guided them to the quarterfinals of the competition last year.

According to Butler, with the pieces they have added this season, the title is within reach, although he was quick to point out that the development of players is the primary objective.

"The ambition remains the same, to develop the talent as best as we can and give them opportunities to advance themselves through the vehicle of football in getting scholarships and professional opportunities.

"However, the squad has improved tremendously and we are stronger within our system. Some key players who had to sit out last year are now available and we now believe we have a system that we believe will be difficult for any team to conquer us," he said.

The addition of players such as Zane Pinnock, Robinho Gordon, Damoy Whitfield and Matthew Hibbert and the retention of six-feet-four-inch tall goalkeeper Akeem Bernard have bolstered confidence.

"I am pretty optimistic about the leadership of the team and it would be an honour to make our principal, Keven Jones, who has put everything into the support of this team, very proud."

"We enter the competition to win, but we want to do it the right way. I am very excited as the team is doing well. They have trained well, and they have bonded well and with the support that we have gotten from the teachers, parents, students and the community in general, we believe that we can go all the way," Butler said.

He added that some might say that the odds are stacked against Mona because they are not what many consider traditional contenders, however, he thinks otherwise.

"We have the best young talent in Jamaica, players that have travelled to Spain and Germany in their development. They are now playing for a school that is now seeded in the Manning Cup, so the concept of traditional schools needs to be eradicated.

"Every school is there to do the same job, which is to educate the kids academically, physically, socially, and hopefully, spiritually. If they are committed, they can improve their programmes and make it interesting enough that players will want to play for their schools," Butler said.