By GABRIEL KATUHO
AITON’S coaching style has been a boost for the new players in the preseason, particularly for the former Snax Tigers forward Zebedy Kip.
Zebedy Kip (pictured) whose heritage is from Western Highlands and Jiwaka is in the preseason with the Hunters aiming to make the final 30-man squad, yet faced with the moral boost from Aiton’s coaching style.
Kip finds a nurturing hub for his talent as he overcame the hardships of learning new things with the guidance of Coach Aiton and counterpart Enock Maki.
“My experience in Hunters I have seen everything new,” he said.
“The level of game and the standard in Hunters is totally different. I think the management and the coaching staff and the senior players are friendly and they have provided a comfortable environment for us to learn,” Kip expressed.
“Though it was hard but because the way that they operated makes us to fully understand and pick up on the training,” he added.
The first one week of training was a bit of a roller-coaster for the former Snax Tiger, however, he started to feel-at-home as the PNG Hunters Cub moves into the second block of the training session.
Kip was introduced to the Hunter slogan of ‘Faith, family and footy’ which he described as a driving force for the bond he developed in the camp apart from the biological family.
As the Hunters head into the third week of training after the Christmas break, Kip is looking at bettering his rugby league skills to be able to be spotlighted on Aiton’s radar.
Slowly but surely the beast in the making is taking each day at a time to work on crafting his skills as he stated, “There are more to learn.”
Kip’s career started in Mt. Hagen where his interest for rugby league grew when he would watch the Hagen Eagles players with admiration.
Growing up in Wipmul Village in Palimp LLG, Hagen Central district, the motivational drive of wanting to become Eagles players had enlightened him to play rugby league.
Kip stated that he started playing rugby league with the Kunai brothers in Mt. Hagen which is the team that had some of the big-name players like Sylvester Namo.
Apart from rugby league, the 24-year-old is also studying at the University of Technology (UoT), taking up Advance Mathematics and Computer science.
His Rugby league experience reached new heights while studying at UoT he played with Tetene Bulldogs, a team in Lae league competition.
“There I was fortunate enough to take part in Snax 9s and from there I was scouted by the Snax Tigers coach,” he said.
Kip spent two years playing with Lae Snax Tigers and made his way to Hunters this year.
“The first block was much into training and the second block was with the skills.
“We have made some mistakes during the trainings but we have the best coach who always motivates us,” he explains.
“Coach Aiton is pointing out our mistakes yet putting it in a more comfortable way that encourages us to work hard.
“This had been a boost to me to work even harder and learn as much as I could,” he said.
“To me personally the Coach’s attitude had been a bust to me on picking up on my pace and I have learnt a lot since the commencement of preseason.
“Block two feels good as I had a smooth run, however, there are small things that I need to get it fixed before the trial next week,” he added.
Kip is looking at squeezing himself into Aiton’s final 30-man squad, be considered for the eighteenth man and possibly the final 13-man squad.
That was the challenge young Kip is faced with including competing with other senior players for the sport in the final squad.
For a bigger dream, Kip is looking at playing in the Prime Minister’s XIII fixture and dreams of wearing the Kumuls jersey with pride one day.
