At 36, he is enjoying a ?Hill-uva? time of his sporting life!

While many of Corey Hill?s peers are beginning to wind down and look forward to watching rather than playing sport, this well-known cricketer and footballer is revelling in the unique opportunities that have come his way this season to bring glory to club and country.

In soccer, Hill and Hamilton Parish have already achieved the unfathomable by reaching the FA Cup finale on April 10; a feat that?s even more astonishing given the First Division team?s cellar-place finish in the league with a mere six points from 18 matches.

Simultaneously, the right-arm medium pacer ? known for his movement off the wicket ? is training with the national cricket squad in preparation for this summer?s (International Cricket Council) ICC Trophy in Ireland where five places in the 2007 Cricket World Cup will be at stake.

Selected for the squad?s ten-day training camp in Trinidad from April 5-15, this talented athlete found himself in a dilemma as his sporting worlds collided. At first glance, it seemed he would be forced to miss the Hot Peppers? maiden appearance on the carpet but compromise prevailed with the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) granting him leave from April 9-11 to return home for the grand occasion. Thereafter, he flies back to Trinidad for the remainder of the camp.

?It?s a historic event for my community, my family and friends and I appreciate the BCB and the executives of Hamilton Parish Workmen?s Club making this possible. I am getting the best of both worlds. It?s a bonus,? said Hill, who celebrated his birthday on Monday.

?It?s late in my career but it feels good. I?m honoured that they would allow me to participate in the FA Cup and the training camp.?

Reflecting on his soccer resurgence, the former Vasco da Gama, Dandy Town and Hotels International player revealed he had no intention of competing in that sport ?on a serious level? this season.

?I was in the Commercial Division so I could play with a few old friends and have a little Saturday kick-around, nothing too competitive.?

However, when the FA Cup approached Hamilton Parish opted to utilise members of their Commercial outfit and Hill?s childhood friends Irving Burgess, Sean Dill and Leon Raynor persuaded their speedy comrade to join them.

Match after match, Hot Peppers defied the odds and suddenly they were in the semi-finals against Somerset Trojans. It was no joke anymore, especially when they stunned the football fraternity with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory ? Hill playing an integral role ?roaming around up top? as he terms his position.

Now, if they can overcome North Village, the cup is theirs.

Is the former national player surprised at Parish?s success?

?Yes, based on the season that Parish?s First Division team had, I?m really overwhelmed. I never thought we would get this far but, when you look at the state of soccer in Bermuda, anything is possible.

?Anybody can beat anybody on a given day. It happens all over the world with underdogs beating the big guns in the FA Cup.?

Though starting his soccer career with the Hot Peppers, the only success he tasted with his hometown club was promotion and he would happily surrender all his previous honours with other teams to achieve the improbable two Sundays from now.

?Sometimes I find myself thinking about what it would be like to win this competition. This would be the icing on the cake for me as far as sports is concerned because I?ve never won anything with Hamilton Parish.

?I?ve won every major domestic trophy in football ? some of them several times ? and I would gladly give up every last one of them for this one FA Cup with Hamilton Parish,? he said sounding quite emotional.

?It?s about more than me. We have accomplished a lot by just reaching the final but to pull this off would benefit us more than it would North Village. ?Our football programme is struggling and, hopefully, this can encourage the young guys hanging about in the area to come and get involved in the club so the older guys like myself don?t have to physically keep this legacy going.?

Training-wise, the veteran?s focus is on cricket and he believes his almost-daily workouts serve him well on both pitches.

?I?m not training for football at all. My physical training in cricket carries me through football also. I?m training extremely hard with the national squad on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. That?s more than I can remember doing in my younger days and it?s enough to sustain me through both sports.

?All season I have just gone out and played football. It?s more mental for me. I have a good understanding of the game and I know my role in the attack,? he reasoned.

Hill, whose elder brother Ricky also represented Bermuda in both national sports and father Ralph played domestic cricket and football, has set his sights on being part of a history-making unit: one that propels the Island into cricket?s showpiece event. The Bailey?s Bay bowler is confident he can make the 14-man cut for Ireland.

?If I put in decent performances in the warm-up matches then I stand a good chance of making the team. I?m happy with how I?m bowling; my line and length now.

?Everything for me ? outside of winning for Parish ? focuses around the ICC Trophy. If we can qualify for the Cricket World Cup, it could spark so many things for Bermuda. I?m doing this hoping it can open doors for the guys who are coming behind us because the main sports for black people are cricket and football.

?We?ve been thrown a lifeline by the ICC allowing five teams to qualify and I?m going to do everything I can to help Bermuda pull this off,? said Hill who fancies a national post in sport administration in the future.

Noting that too often momentum from the Island?s international sporting exploits is lost when Bermuda gets knocked out of tournaments, he said he would like to see sport used to ?save a few young men?.

?This is a perfect opportunity and I want to do my part ? not only to accomplish this but to help revive interest in cricket and football. We have a tendency to lose interest when we don?t do well in big competitions and I don?t want to see that happen again with this.?