WITH the squad having an average age of 21, head coach and technical director of Cavalier FC Rudolph Speid believes his approach should be followed by other clubs after his young stars won the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League title for the second time in four seasons.

Last season’s runners-up turned the tables on Mount Pleasant and recorded a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win after the contest ended 1-1 following regulation and extra time. It’s the club’s third league crown in their history, and they became the first team, since Portmore United, to win the title after losing in the final in the previous year.

The last time Cavalier won the title in 2021 they did it in a similar fashion when they beat Waterhouse on penalties.

Although ecstatic about the accomplishment, Speid says the joy of everyone involved with the club makes the achievement even more special.

“It’s a very good feeling. We lost six finals last year; some of them were under certain circumstances so I think we learnt our lesson. To win championships takes careful planning and preparation, and every eventuality. We were able to stick to the task and bring home the championship,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“The feeling is really for my spectators, the people who believe in us, our fans, the people who invest in us, the youngsters and their families. We have one of the biggest academies so all of our youngsters will feel very proud of Cavalier. I’ve made a lot of people happy and I’m grateful.”

After coming from behind and eventually winning the game against the league leaders and defending champions, Speid says he was impressed with the maturity of his team.

“It’s the evolution of the team. We used to sit deep, play on the counter [but] this time we were on the front foot, pressing, probing and going forward, so you can see the team is very different. They have evolved, and this is what is good about the team. They were a little bit inexperienced last year when we played over 40 games for the season [but] they’ve learnt, and they learn at a faster rate, so I think that is what is coming out in the results,” he said.

Since their return to the league in 2012 Cavalier have consistently fielded the youngest team in the league. This year was no different, with several under-23 stars including Jalmaro Calvin, Shaneil Thomas, Adrian Reid, Dwayne Atkinson, Richard King, Christopher Ainsworth and Dwayne Allen all providing significant contributions to their title success.

Speid says local football will reach new heights if other clubs follow their lead, but believes a major mindset change will be needed at the leadership level of the other clubs.

“Every team has a different way they go about things. Some teams just want to win so they’ll buy the best players — and there’s nothing wrong with that. Some teams want to be competitive today, not thinking about next year or the year after. Some teams are in certain areas and have to make certain decisions on political and economic grounds, and some teams don’t have a clue,” he said. “What we’ve done each season is to give each player certain amount of playing time and not worry about results. What we try to do is to play them for development, then you see the ones who are ready for prime time — which is the play-offs — and that’s when we pick the competitive team. If we have a 30-man squad, everybody gets to play. Even if they don’t get into the prime time for that year, they are ahead for the next year.”

“[But] I hope other clubs follow us because I just want to make sure Jamaica’s football is better, that’s one of my big goals. If we’re able to do it, others can emulate and give us competition too, so that will push us harder to be better at what we do.”

Cavalier’s league success has also earned them another spot in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup which is expected to begin in August.