It’s not easy being a coach. Standing on the sidelines, watching your team play a big match, constantly having to adapt to the ebb and flow to make the best changes and form the best strategy; it’s a stressful thing as Hugh ‘Bingy’ Blair, assistant coach of Maverley/Hughenden FC, knows very well.

Blair, the former national midfielder, watched over the team as they battled almost to the end of extra time against Barbican FC in the final of the Charley’s JB Rum/Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Super League at the Constant Spring Complex two Fridays ago.

There was no Friday the 13th bad luck for the team as they managed to score the winning goal two minutes before the end of extra time. Confidence is a very important thing when it comes to pulling off a big-match win according to Blair, who said his faith in the team never wavered: “I was confident from during the week… you have to have confidence. I knew we would find a way.”

Maverley/Hughenden FC’s win in the JB Rum Super League (JBSL) gives them a spot in the JFF/Charley’s JB Rum Premier League play-offs, where they will attempt to qualify for the 2016/2017 Red Stripe Premier League.

This success isn’t just a boost for the players, who are looking to get professional contracts, but for the community as well. “There’s good vibes and energy, more togetherness and unity with the communities as they look forward to the play-offs. Everybody comes together,” said the exultant coach. “Football is uplifting to the community, it energises the men; football gives them an opportunity to get off the streets.”

Blair believes that because of its positive influence, football is something that needs to be nurtured, and Charley’s JB Rum’s involvement in the competition is a step in the right direction: “It’s a good feeling that they put that professional touch into the game,” he noted.

Though it was a joy to reach the JBSL final and take home the title, the team hasn’t spared much time to celebrate just yet, according to Blair. “We’re not celebrating until we make it through the play-offs!”

Maverley/Hughenden will battle it out against Granville United, the Western Confed champions, tomorrow.

In an effort to strengthen the national football programme and unite all super leagues in Jamaica, Charley’s JB Overproof Rum is the title sponsor for KSAFA Super League, the Western Confed Super League, the Eastern Confed Super League and the South Central Confed Super League.