Ever wondered what the U’s players and management get up to as a day job? In each Matchday programme, thebestof Hastings provides an insight into those that wear the famously Hastings shirt. We start for this opening game with the Gaffer.
Hastings is rightly proud of a wealth of manufacturing in the town and one of the leading companies is Drallim Industries Ltd, where Garry works as the Operations Manager. The company is a technology driven British engineering group with global presence. They bring to their customers innovation in design, manufacture and service, covering a broad spectrum of products and markets including Aerospace, Utilities and Industrial amongst others.
Garry is responsible for the arrival of the raw materials and the delivery of the finished product meeting both quality and service standards, which are both unsurprisingly of a high level. Being responsible for all procurement, material and production teams demands a variety of meetings each day and a good degree of interaction with clients and suppliers. So, managing people and situations throughout the day job provides Garry with the transferable skills to take onto the training pitch and dugout on a Matchday. The principles of coaching in the workplace are no different to getting the best out of the players on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday evening!
And Garry brings his management and coaching skills to the Pilot Field on both a Tuesday and Thursday for training, which makes for a very long day twice a week at least. Once the players have left, Garry and his management team debrief the session and plan the next one, all for the greater good of Hastings United. Let’s hope the players have taken on some of the words of wisdom during pre-season and are raring to go this afternoon!
Come on you U’s… Ian
