About Me

A Government of Jamaica scholar, Eric U. Williams attended Temple University, Philadelphia Pa. USA. He completed the BSc. in Physical Education (Sports Coaching & Human Performance Lab) in 1979, and followed up immediately to gain a Masters in Educational Administration (Curriculum Development and School Leadership 1980). He would later convert his Doctoral Project into this growing empire for soccer/football club development leadership, coaching and performance management with the astonishing, best-selling 100 Principle Manual.

After coaching the Vauxhall Secondary School football team to the Scotia Bank Island Champion Triple Crown in 1972, his GOJ scholarship studies were pursuant to a leadership role at the G.C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport under construction in Jamaica. But the chance to take on the challenge of the leadership at a new tertiary institution loomed way too early for the Author.

So instead, with intervening circumstances occurring fast, he went to lecturer at his alma- mater, Mico (University) UWI Teachers’ College. This was during preparation for the students of batch #1 to arrive at the new Passley Gardens’ Teachers College Portland, Jamaica. It was January, 1981. Although this Whisperer Project then was only a flicker of light, it was indeed a new dawning for soccer/football on a global scale!

 

The World was Getting Smaller and Calling Louder

By 1983, the Author joined the Jamaica Industrial Development Corporation (JIDC) as a Training Officer. His next move was to Things Jamaican Limited as Training, Business and Product Development Director in 1986 and was elevated to Managing Director in 1996.

By 1998 he was Production Manager at the Combined Tobacco Company. But the author’s soccer/football agenda was ever present and growing in achievement, statue and confidence.

Still, life kept calling. He moved to Jamaican Promotion Corporation (JAMPRO) as the Industrial Manpower Development Specialist for 3 years. Thereafter it was to the United States Peace Corps in Kingston, for most of the next decade, as the Pre-Service Training Director for the Volunteers; Then finally, the Director of the Training Unit at the Jamaica National Irrigation Commission Limited up to May 2012.

 

Looking Back and Processing the Journey

Since high school his unbroken soccer/football-work-study years, tally at 59. All this while coaching club leaders, teams, coaches and just about anyone who would listen. The results were outstanding according to the 90% who were not affective by such aggressive imposition on their game. The Almighty demand from everyone for high quality performance in the way they did their jobs, was often times extremely risky.

This litany gives an insight into the author’s life style. It exposes interests and experiences gained in job training, management, leadership and coaching soccer/football. Further there were forays in academic and professional work in organization development consultation, and delivering training as a private contractor, never ceased. Notable was the consistent show of increasing leadership responsibilities and long term commitment. His resume clearly indicating a well-grounded and appropriately unique preparation for this Project.

Over all this time, and for extended periods, coaching, keeping fit and looking for a team on which to be the worst player was a gleeful challenge.

This was his mission of greatest disappointment as everywhere he had to be forcefully pulling up the socks of lagging teammates, and coaches! It forced the Whisperer into excessive chatter about the application of common sense, collective intelligence, high performance team play, and volunteer coaching.  Leading as President, Honorary Life Member, Mentor, and a Sponsor at the Maverley-Hughenden [soccer] Football Club, the Whisperer stayed on the pitch during the off season time…and even when off Island.

 

Road to the Project and Academy

 

In 2012 the confident decision to retire early and give all to this Project was easy: Mico U. calls all its graduates to ”Do it with thy might“, while Temple U. had asserted “The Temple Owls are Everywhere – “PerseverantiaVinsit/Perseverance Conquers”, both mantras still hold and keep him going with the confidence of a true champion.

The Academy for Club Development Consultants is derived from 59 years of active interest in the intellectual aspects of the game of soccer/football. In earlier times ‘coaching’ Real Madrid and Barcelona from the neighbors’ black and white TV sets, in the sixties.

His preparation practice includes teaching Art & Crafts, Biology, General Science and Physical Education. His advanced degrees no doubt played a major role in contemplating this uniquely specialized Project. Educational Administration – Curriculum Development, with post Master/Doctorial Studies in Institutional Development Leadership. Unwittingly, the exposure to these areas of study provide direction towards the missing concepts in qualitative performance measures and leadership

The earlier specialized training in Human Performance Laboratory, Soccer/Football Licensing and Coaching Certification courses were important during the process. Playing at all age levels is greatly important for bolstering the confidence to write and demonstrate the technical rudiments of the critical skills. Playing with any team requires that player who is also a well-respected coach, must most seldom lose the ball!

Constantly coaching and playing all sorts of sports, gave the precisely relevant and appropriate hands-on background experiences needed to conceive of, and execute, this complex Project. Also, where I played in the tough inner-cities and suburbs of Kingston, only DJs, thugs and footballers get informal gladiatorship, with a spontaneous and unanimous name from a single incident or performance. I am still ‘Sir Genius’ today, but only because 35 seasons ago I could not find a quick rebuttal or long argument to decline the tagline, when the younger players had continuing stronger reasons to insist….

 

Much Received and Given on the Way….

 

He worked in designing industrial manpower development and organizational development training. The training was imagined with the new technology for cutting edge praxis for implementing staff development curricula; it was well timed. All this was necessary to issue this unique end result, so well needed at this time. Read the 100 Principles and get a SFW Academy Consultant to train your Clubs, and yourselves to command a Mastership in High Performance Soccer Football to put your club at the top….Although the material is there, hearing directly from the Whisperer and his Cadre of Trained Consultants must be the best option for everyone. So welcome aboard!

More from the Archives

 

In earlier times the Whisperer served as the Sports Master at Vauxhall Secondary High School in Kingston (1970-77), where he inherited, and ably continued their sporting dynasty, which had started from as early as 1965. His immediate predecessors were Mr. K. Plummer and Mr. F. Pearson his assistant.

The author attended Mico [University] Teachers College from 1968-71, after graduating from the Ardenne High School in June of 1967. But the essential groundings in sport and the fixation on soccer/football fittingly came out of a tough Kingston’s Olympic Gardens community. Between 1956 and 1976, a section notoriously dubbed ‘Compound’ was the neighborhood.

The Whisperer, got the opportunity to coach at Wolmer’s and other notable high schools at different periods through the seventies. Later he became Head Coach/Technical Director at the Maverley-Hughenden FC in the early eighties.

It was he and his staff that first propelled his club into league football, from community league to the third division and up to the first division, 1983 to 1987. Coach Rupert Williams continued the tradition into the 90″s.

 

A Valid Experience in an International Cross Cultural Exchange

The Whisperer got an important opportunity to experience the intensity of the physical demanded of the high performance game, often taken for granted the international level. A new perspective and a notably strong, positive influence wasplaced on him by the Philadelphia Fevers (US Major Indoor Soccer League 1978-80). It was a telling and memorable time when he trained with the team at Girard College field, and the Armory and Gym in the winters.

To Train and Keep Pace with International Players Like These Philadelphia Fevers Require High Performance with Top Flight Match Fitness and Confidence Fred Grgurev (1978-79) 24 Apps 46 Goals Joey Fink (1978-81) 61 Apps 81 Goals Alberto Alves (1978-79) 24 Apps 20 Goals Woody Hartmann (1978-79)22 Apps 10 Goals George Leschiv (1978-79) Bob Rigby (1979-80) Bobby Smith (1979-80)

But unlike his buddy George Leschiv of Temple U. Owls, no caps for the Whisperer without a work permit. However the experience gained for the Whisperer to mix in and feel the intensity of top flight training was priceless. Just to gage the high quality of the players in that squad helped to redefine many new personal benchmarks. Members of the Fevers’ among the best in the league ‘78-’80:

Figure1.1. They played with crazy intensity (From Wikipedia)

The author believes that reading and understanding the words are important, as well as having heated discussions, and observing. But doing so will not be enough to get an appreciation of what commitment to training for the top flight game really feels like. This high level of intensity can only be truly felt when you attempt to train amongst the toughest.

Coaches, who read the Whisperer’s seminal works, do not necessarily have to play at top flight to coach successfully, but it will be an advantage to have felt the intensity of serious training, especially if the younger coach is also planning on implementing the conditioning program himself, being mindful of the importance of ball work in conditioning and skills fixation.... Hopefully the training will include weights for strength and power, with a lot of ball work included in the cardiovascular/endurance program.