By Jonathan Brown
NEW Kilmore Rec manager Mark Kerr says he is “busting to get going” as he prepares for pre-season with the Crossgar side.
Kerr was appointed Kilmore manager on 2 June, replacing Michael Carvill and his assistant manager Philip Traynor.
The former Drumaness Mills boss, who left Meadowvale in 2023, later had a spell in charge of Premier Intermediate League side Banbridge Town and was part of the Ards backroom team last season before leaving the club in February.
Kilmore endured a difficult campaign in the Amateur League Premier Division, which ended in relegation to Division 1A after recording just six wins, two draws and 18 defeats.
Kerr, who led Drumaness to a Border Cup final and a Clarence Cup final during his tenure, admitted he had not initially planned to drop back into Amateur League football, but said he was convinced by the project on offer at Kilmore.
“My mantra for getting back in was that it had to be the right club, one that wanted to go in the right direction.
“I probably hadn’t really thought about coming back down into the Amateur League, and having Championship and PIL experience, I was probably keeping my eye on what opportunities might appear at that level.
“I got speaking to the club more, and it’s a club that wants to be set up well.”
Kerr added: “Longer term, the club is looking at the new Conference League, it’s looking at an U-21 team, and they’ve got a really good youth set-up at the minute.
“Kilmore are doing a lot of good things off the pitch and below the senior side to enable the senior team to be successful.
“It’s a club that wants to be progressive, so all of those things added together made this the right club to go to.
“It definitely wasn’t just a case of jumping at the first opportunity available.”
After working at intermediate and senior level over the past three years, the UEFA ‘A’ Licence coach hopes to bring lessons learned into the Kilmore set-up.
“You learn something from every job, good things and bad things.
“It was really nice getting exposure to both Banbridge and Ards.
“You’re working with pro players and players who are on loan from different clubs.
“They were both very professional set-ups in terms of organisation and those kinds of things.”
However, Kerr acknowledged that stepping back into Amateur League football also brings its own challenges.
“It’s difficult when you come back down to the Amateur League.
“You have a lot of lads multi-sporting, whether it’s cricket, Gaelic or whatever it is, so it’s about balancing that.
“At Ards, although there were still some amateurs, you had a lot of players on pro deals – it’s effectively a part-time job, so they’re more committed.
“Those are difficulties and hurdles you have to overcome in the amateur game, but I’m looking forward to it.”
