The tale of two teams has been written as St. George's Cricket Club have seen both their football and cricket programmes promoted from First Division to Premier. However, sadly at the other end of the Island, Somerset have seen both their football and cricket programmes plummet from the Premier Division to the First Division.

While both clubs are moving in different directions it is clearly a case of rebuilding for one and about maintaining for the other.

Somerset were better known as 'Silver City' back in the day, but as of late things have changed. Their football team finished at the bottom of the table resulting in an automatic demotion. Cricket had one shining light to keep them from being relegated. However, when Devonshire Rec beat PHC in an upset, Somerset were officially relegated to the lower tier of cricket.

Surprised and shocked yes, but these things happen and sometimes they happen for the better. Having had brief talks with various Somerset fans the consensus is that this could be a good thing for their programme as it will give Somerset a chance to breed young, energetic blood into both teams.

I want to personally encourage Somerset to take a year or two to rebuild, put a solid programme in place and be consistent in not straying away from your goals. When rebuilding, coaches have to be firm and stern and not allow politics to creep into their programme. If the club are to move forward then players must earn their way.

Richard Todd, the football coach in St. George's, should be proud of the job he achieved with the team. Changing the mindset of players is no easy task and patience is tested weekly when both old and new players have to adhere to new policies and procedures.

However, through all of the adversity, coach Todd was able to keep his team focused on the goal, which was promotion. If promotion wasn't enough he then took the team one step further and won the Shield Trophy, which should make a statement to all Premier teams that St. George's are a team that you will have to respect.

In order for any programme to work and be successful, the players must have confidence in the coaching staff. They must be willing to be committed to the team's goals and objectives.

Most importantly all players must be given a fair shot for their efforts in training. With these key ingredients in place, Richard and I have helped to rebuild St. George's' football and cricket programme.

With respect to cricket it was a little more difficult to get the commitment as the team had become accustomed to training sporadically.

The first step taken was to talk with four or five under-16 players and invite them to train. The young players were eager to learn and showed commitment from the outset. This had a domino affect on the current players and in no time training sessions were full.

Truthfully speaking the response the guys in St. George's have shown me has motivated me to want to continue coaching them and take them to an even higher level. However, just like in life, success doesn't come easy and having had numerous meetings with Richard about football, the common denominator has been the ability to push our players beyond their limits to help them understand and grasp their full potential.

For some reason players these days are so used to playing inside their own little box that when you challenge them to go outside of that you are often met with great resistance, but as coaches we have to stand firm.

To Somerset, I say keep your heads up because everything happens for a reason and things will turn around. The boys on tour remind me everyday that Somerset are on their way back as they have the best under-14 cricket and football team,(well that's what the Somerset boys on tour say).

So there is hope and there is a future for you all. Somerset is a club that should be and has to be in the top flight, but every now and then we just need a little reminder to help keep us honest as a club, as players, as coaches, and members.

Both Somerset and St.George's have learned that it is important to have your house in order if you want to play with the big boys. Getting relegated is not the end of the road. It's how you bounce back that is important. On the flip side, being promoted is just half the battle, proving that you can stay there and compete is the other half.

PS: To my good friend Recman I have waited all year to reply to your off the wall, sarcastic comments that you made in reply to my season predictions.

Let me refresh your memory.

At the beginning of the season I predicted Rangers would win the league and you had the audacity to write a letter to the sports editor and say, "I do not know what crystal ball Clay Smith was looking through when he made his predictions but it must have been very cloudy. How could he possibly say Rangers would win the league when PHC are the team to beat."

Well, my good friend, let me leave you with these humbling words: "Cricket teaches us all lessons about life and today my great friend you learned a big lesson. Just because you like or love the game from the outside, looking in it doesn't necessarily mean you know the game. You have been a great fan for years.

Continue doing what you do and that is watching cricket and leave the talking to the cricketers, those who have actually played the game and know the ins and outs. Maybe you need to go buy a cloudy crystal ball my friend and see what football team you can predict to win the league. Ha! Ha!