Olympic resurgence for the community – coach

OLYMPIC GARDENS FC has had an impressive season so far in this year’s Wray and Nephew Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Championship.

Head coach Ira Hemmings says the team’s success is dedicated to the community.

Olympic Gardens have yet to be defeated in the league, as they sit atop the KSAFA Championship standings with 37 points, and boast a record of 11 wins and four draws in their 15 games.

Hemmings said the community has been a driving force behind the team’s success this season. The club has seen an increase in the number of fans that turn out for their games on a weekly basis.

As they win more games, they expect to see even more members of the community showing their support.

“The community in itself, and the success of the club, is what keeps the community together over the years. Football is what we love, and one thing that football is likely to do, is bring everybody together. When we are winning, the persons want to follow winners, so our crowd base is growing more and more, week by week.”

According to Hemmings, the team’s success is not surprising, as he believes the talent was always present within the squad. What had been lacking, however, was sponsorship to help cover the club’s financial obligations.

In the last two weeks, Olympic Gardens have received a massive boost to their season after a generous donation from Olympic and World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

The donation included gear, football boots, club supplies, and a $100,000 contribution towards the team’s feeding programme.

“The donation is definitely a positive way in which the team will go forward,” said Hemmings.

“We think that Olympic Gardens is a club that, if we can get persons on board to help sponsor, then we can always go forward to the end of the road, which is, for us, winning the league.

“Olympic Gardens always had the talent but it was just for us to put the talent together and maintain the display throughout the course of the season.”

Despite their strong start to the season, Hemmings says the team will not get ahead of itself and will take things game by game, especially since they have yet to secure their spot in the league’s semi-finals.

While they are heavy favourites for the title, Hemmings says the future is unpredictable and his team will not be blinded by high expectations.

“We’re taking it one game at a time. We can’t predict what the future will be like. We just have to go one game at a time and then, at the end of season, we’ll just have to see where we are.”