KINGSTON, Jamaica—Kemar Ricketts says he will now focus his “full attention” on trying to keep Treasure Beach FC in the Jamaica Premier League after he parted company with ISSA daCosta Cup school Munro College “by mutual consent.”
Ricketts, who is seen as one of the up-and-coming young coaches on the island, confirmed the separation from the St Elizabeth-based school on Tuesday, admitting he was “disappointed” with the decision, especially after his attempt to resign from the job was rebuffed a few months earlier.
Munro College, who last won the daCosta Cup in 1964, were upset 2-0 in their opening game by BB Coke on Saturday and will host Sydney Pagon STEM at home on Wednesday.
“I actually tendered my resignation a few months ago,” he told Observer Online on Tuesday, “but it was not accepted.”
Ricketts, who guided BB Coke to the ISSA Ben Francis KO title in 2019, the school’s only success in football, made the move to Munro College, taking them to within touching distance of the semi-finals.
Last season, a lot was expected of the expensively assembled Munro College team that boasted national junior representative players from at least five different countries, but they missed out on qualifying for the daCosta Cup semis on goal difference to eventual winners Garvey Maceo High, both on four points, just one behind Ocho Rios High, and also lost to Denbigh High in the quarterfinals of the Ben Francis KO.
Ricketts, who guided Treasure Beach back to the Jamaica Premier League, qualifying for the final of the Jamaica Football Championships (Tier II), says this will also give him some time to focus on the club team as well as to complete his coaching A Licence, from which he will seek to get the Pro Licence.
—Paul Reid