‘My heart is with Excelsior’ – Halliman eyes return to alma mater after Hydel stint
FOLLOWING the exit of Hydel High from the Corporate Area Manning Cup competition after losing to Jose Marti at the Prison Oval on Tuesday, veteran coach Leebert Halliman announced that he will not be returning to the St Catherine school, but will resume duties as head coach of Excelsior High next season.
Halliman explained that his one-year hiatus from the school he won back-to-back titles with in 2003/2004 was to assist his long-time friend Corey Bennett establish a strong football programme at Hydel.
He believes he has helped them accomplish that goal and is now looking to resume the mantle at the Mountain View Avenue school.
“I will be at Excelsior come next year, hopefully.. I am on a year’s vacation,” he told this reporter after Friday’s match.
“… Corey Bennett is a person I used to coach at Minor League, high school and university and who has contributed a lot to me as a coach and I thought it was just right to give him a season, which I did and I set up his programme,” Halliman explained.
“But Excelsior is my alma mater; my whole life and I only plan to stop coaching whenever I leave Excelsior…. but they (Excelsior) will have to decide,” he remarked.
It came as a surprise at the start of the season when it was discovered that the veteran coach was guiding Hydel for the present season, and many were of the impression he had left Excelsior for good.
However, Halliman maintains that he never left but was just helping out a good friend.
“If they (Excelsior) need me I will definitely return, but if they don’t want me then there is nothing I can do because they are my employers,” he said.
He pointed out that it was an historic season with newcomers Hydel in only their second year in the competition and although it was tempting to remain, he maintains that Excelsior is where his heart is.
“It was an excellent performance up to this stage, but I think the boys (Hydel) lost focus… but the programme will still be there and they have a good crop of boys, so it’s just for them to keep focused,” he said.
“They are history-makers by reaching the Manning Cup and Walker Cup play-offs, and although we didn’t make the most of it, this experience will do them a lot of good,” he said.
