Coach Woolery leaves Petersfield for Calabar; takes up role at Racers
Highly respected athletics Coach Machel Woolery has left Petersfield High after 15 years and is now at Calabar High.
But Woolery was quick to point out that at this moment his capacity at Calabar High is that of a physical education teacher and not an athletics coach.
“I stop teaching at Petersfield, I now teach at Calabar,” Woolery explained.
“But I won’t say they (Calabar) won’t try, but I have another engagement in the afternoon,” he added.
That afternoon engagement is a coaching role at Racers Track Club where he started in September.
Woolery said he has settled into his teaching job at Calabar and is enjoying the new environment at 61 Red Hills Road.
“There is a lot of rumours on the road that I am coaching at Calabar, but for now it’s just teaching,” he reiterated.
He noted that he still oversees the athletics programme at Petersfield, at least for now.
Woolery has made a name for himself, enabling little-known, Westmorelandbased Petersfield High to have one of the best school’s athletics programmes despite limited resources.
Woolery, a graduate of GC Foster College and a certified IAAF Level I and Level II coach, has guided the careers of Daniel Cope, Kevin Nedrick, Antonio Watson, Kevin Stone, Shaqueena Foote and Ockera Myrie.
He led Petersfield High boys into the top 10 at Boys’ Champs on a number of occasions with some notable victories along the way.
As Petersfield’s stock has risen, so too has Woolery’s. He has been a member of Jamaica’s coaching staff to a number of the island’s youth teams over the years.