Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
BENDER
CONSTANT SPRING Football Club and coach Christopher Bender parted company yesterday.
The 41-year-old, who took charge of the club in the pre-season, said financial problems and the disunity within the team were the main reasons for him handing in his resignation to the club president, Maurice 'Danny' Lyn.
"Finance is one of the biggest problems. The players were grumbling because they were not getting paid and it is difficult to motivate players who are not getting paid," Bender told The Gleaner yesterday.
For Bender, a resident of the Constant Spring community and former player with the club, a split in the team was another factor.
"Yes, I told Danny Lyn that I felt that some players were playing for him and some for me," Bender added.
Lyn confirmed that Bender's stated reasons for resigning were the ones he gave the club and insisted that he did not pressure the former national women's coach to vacate his position, despite speculation in the media for weeks that he would have been fired due to Constant Spring's poor returns.
In fact, Lyn said he took a hands-off approach, allowing Bender a free reign to recruit players and select the team.
According to Bender he was powerless in that situation as "money is a primary motivator for players".
"Players have expressed interest in coming, others have come but would not stay because of the financial situation and as a result of this we could not really add to the team. Any new players who came in did so on loan and it was difficult to get quality players like that," Bender explained, giving vent to his frustration.
Constant Spring are still winless and sit at the bottom of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League with two matches to go in the first round.
Only Sunday, Constant Spring lost 0-2 to Seba United at Constant Spring and many wondered aloud if that was the last straw.
That result was a big let-down following the team's competitive 3-3 draw with defending champions Portmore United in their previous fixture.
In the meantime, Lyn who previously coached the team, will fill the position as coach until a new one is found. But Lyn must be worried about the rate at which his club is changing coaches with no fewer than six entering and existing in the past five years. Among them are Billy Perkins, Carl Sewell, Braxton Hyre, Charles Edwards, Jeffrey Maxwell and Bender.
For Bender this is his second resignation in less than a year, having resigned as head coach of the national female team in February.
Bender made his mark as a player in 1982 when he featured in the triple schoolboy crown winning Camperdown High School, which featured the late Peter Cargill, Barrington Gaynor and Andrew 'Bower' Hines.
