Wadadah plotting a return to glory

... We are going back to our roots - Rickettes

Western Bureau:

With Seba United back into the realms of top-flight football, parish neighbours Wadadah FC, who are also two-time former national champions, are also targeting a return to the National Premier League (NPL) in the not-too-distant future.

"Our immediate plan is to rebuild and refocus the club at this time," said Wadadah's head coach Daniel Rickettes. "Ultimately, our aim is to regain a place in the National Premier League (NPL) as early as possible."

One of the major planks in Wadadah's rebuilding strategy is to realign the club with the Mt Salem community, where it was founded back in 1983 by the trio of former national players Mark Ledford and Allan Aarons, and football enthusiast Delroy 'Builder' James.

"Most of the teams that are doing well in Jamaica's football today are tied to communities," said Rickettes, a former star player for Wadadah. "We want the people in Mt Salem to become intimately involved in the running of the club once again."

Upgraded playing field

During the early years, the Wadadah team operated exclusively out of the Mt Salem community, which has produced former national players such as Devon Rickettes, Durrant Brown, Kenneth Gaynor, Paul 'Tegat' Davis, Stennett Samms and the late Winston 'Twinny Bug' Anglin.

As a show of its commitment to realign with Mt Salem, the management of Wadadah recently spearheaded a drive to upgrade the community's playing field, which they ultimately hope to use as their home ground in the not-too-distant future.

In addition, the club has been staging weekly club meetings at the Mt Salem All-Age School with a view of seeking to regenerate community interest in the club. According to Rickettes, the response has been most encouraging.

"We are looking at putting together a strong executive, comprising members of the commu-nity," said Rickettes, who guided the Wadadah team to second place in the 2011 Captain's Bakery Western Super League. "We want to feel the involvement of community in all our endeavours."

With their championship successes of 1988 and 1992 now steadily becoming a distant memory, Rickettes is anxious to erase the ghost of the disastrous 2008 season when the team was relegated from the NPL.

"We are looking at getting back in the NPL within the next two years," said Rickettes. "We have good players and once we re-structure and get the organisation working right, I am sure we will become a major force in national football once again."

- A.F.