CALABAR High’s former track and field team Head Coach Corey Bennett says he harbours no ill feelings toward the school for not being offered a new contract.

Bennett, who recently joined Jamaica College as their sprints and hurdling coach, led Calabar to a runner-up finish at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships in March, after a three-year tenure.

“It was just the end of a chapter,” Bennett says. “Calabar is a school I have loved over the past three years and will continue to love, and I wish them all the best. Sometimes things have to end for other things to begin. I still have love for them, and I just wish them all the best. I am good; it is just time to move on. This is a new chapter, and that’s what has happened.”

Despite his departure Bennett, who led Hydel High School to this year’s Girls Championships title, stressed there is no bitterness about the decision.

“There are no ill feelings toward anyone there,” he says. “I still have great friends at the school, and there are boys I want the very best for so there is no animosity. It is just time for me to move on, and that has happened.”

The Sunday Observer made several attempts via calls and WhatsApp messages to contact Calabar Principal Sian Mahay Wilson for a comment on Bennett’s departure but she has not responded.

Reflecting on his time at Calabar, Bennett says the programme was heading in the right direction.

“I thought the programme had improved, but that is not really for me to say — it is for the other stakeholders at the school,” he says. “I believe we did well during my tenure, especially toward the end when we closed some gaps. I thought we were back on track but Calabar wanted to take things in a different direction.”

Shaquane Gordon of Calabar wins heat two of the Class One Boys’ 110m hurdles semi-final during the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on Friday, March 28.