Flex_Mohammed

Soca Warriors Online members from left - Bally, Trinbago, Flex & E-Man.

100% Trini.

By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
16-Sept-2004 - "Here's the synopsis, the players didn't play poorly as individuals (other than the ball-watching), yet we lose," said JDB, after Trinidad and Tobago's 3-1 World Cup qualifying defeat at home to Mexico. "Clearly the tactics need to be better. I'm not saying that (Bertille) St Clair has to go but he needs help."

The gauntlet was thrown out.

"Triniman" did not miss his cue to twist the knife in the back of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team coach.

"So I guess an assistant to St Clair will be doing all the thinking and planning," said Triniman. "Look, any other country (where) a coach on the national team has weak, poor, bad (or) whatever tactics, (he) would not be coaching!"

There are still those who believe that Bertille St Clair can take Trinidad and Tobago to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, though.

"Trini" is one such fan and his faith remains undimmed.

"Mexico is ranked eighth (in the world) right between Italy and England," he countered, "T&T is ranked 65th. Mexico just came back from the Copa America (where) they reached the quarters, beating Argentina, Ecuador and drawing Uruguay

"We will only improve as we play more games together Bertie has a track record for initial poor results then some real nice quality team ball, just look at his tenure from '97 culminating in the kinda ball we were playing as a team in the 2000 Gold Cup."

Welcome to the Soca Warriors Online website; an Internet site dedicated to fans of the "Red, White and Black".

Visitors are asked to bring ideas relating to team performance, selection or tactics.

All personal baggage must be kept safely out of sight.

Airport terminology is appropriate.

If the discourse is often as colourful and intimate as rum shop cross talk, the visitors are as cosmopolitan as one might expect at the JFK Airport departure lounge.

The site's most regular guests appear to be homesick Trinidad and Tobago immigrants.

Sport, and football in particular, is their unifying factor.

Mission accomplished then for website founder and immigrant-in-chief, Inshan "Flex" Mohammed.

A 32-year-old computer technician, "Flex" migrated to Colorado, United States in 1990 as an 18-year-old to live with his mother-just months after the Strike Squad's infamous 1-0 World Cup qualifying home loss to the US.

Flex, who played football at Pleasantville Junior Secondary and San Fernando Senior Comprehensive, was in the National Stadium on that fateful November 19, 1989.

"Boy it hurt!" said Flex, who earned his nickname as an amateur DJ in New York. "First time I ever felt so bad about a football game."

Clearly, it was not all bad.

When Flex, like many other expatriates, sought a romantic reminder of his homeland, he found it in the nationalistic pride that swelled with the success of coach Everald "Gally" Cummings' "kaisoccer".

While some pored over the entertainment, business and crime pages, Flex hunted football news.

After an unhappy ten months in Colorado, he moved to New York where there were more familiar faces and he attempted to rekindle his long distance love affair with T&T and football.

By then, his longing was bordering on obsessive.

"When I came to New York," he said, "I was finally able to get Trinidad papers at the roti shops, which came a few days after (they were published)... I felt that I could hardly wait for the newspapers just to read up on the players and T&T team.

"I grew up knowing of players like Anthony Sherwood, Arnold Dwarika, Jerren Nixon, Glenn Benjamin and Ivan Sampson and I just wanted to keep a tab on how successful they were becoming."

His appetite was insatiable. The Trinidad Express could not churn out enough football stories for his liking, while the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TTF) website was inadequate.

In 1998, on a whim, he decided to scour the net in search of a supporters' site.

"I found one, 'T&T football Online'," said Flex, "but it wasn't updated regularly and I felt it was missing a lot of stuff like photo albums, statistics and so on

"I knew a little of computers at the time and HTML to build websites, so I told myself I am going to build a T&T football website. I had a passion and desire to build the best football website ever."

For the past six years, he has spent nearly six hours a day on his vision as he sourced information, updated the site and kept abreast of technological advances.

"I wanted to do something to help unite T&T," said Flex. "I wanted to create some place where all races can come together to voice their opinions and support T&T and show people that true fans have no colour and we are all Trinibagonians.

"When you come to a foreign land, you realise how much you love your country and people. Through football, we can unite."

There has been help along the way from others who shared his dream.

Nigel "Tallman" Myers became the site's official sponsor when he offered to pay for a domain name, which saw "www.homestead.com/flex" give way to "socawarriors.net".

Today, the site boasts of between 150 and 400 hits per day and has more than 50 regular contributors, including T&TFF press officer Shaun Fuentes.

There is also a regular advertisement from the T&T Sport Shop, which offers football merchandise, although Flex hopes for more commercial support in the future.

But imminent expansion does not seem to detract from its founding goal.

Surfing the site seems like eavesdropping on a family discussion.

It is an interactive soap opera.

There are the self-professed tactical experts like "JDB" and Brian "Patriot" Springer; mediators and news providers like "Sam", "Palos" and "Touches"; Concacaf neighbours like "Winnipeg Fury" (Canadian) and "Mrwarmonga" (Jamaican) and, last but not least, Triniman.

Triniman will win no popularity contests-to put it mildly.

He has allegedly committed the site's one cardinal sin, if the others are to be believed, by being a doom and gloom merchant in a land of optimists.

"All them fellahs here just angry cause I am not a fan of Bertille St Clair," Triniman explained once, "and I am constantly on his case...I do not get carried away with one result. I just give credit (when due)."

"FF" was unconvinced by his sincerity.

"As soon as you see something little negative," FF countered, "you snatch up on it cuz yuh so bad-mind!"

And yet Triniman represents a familiar type of supporter-the cynic who claims that Dwight Yorke is overrated, Ato Boldon is all talk, and Brian Lara is not truly world class..and yet is never late for a game himself.

In short, he is the guy everyone wants banned from the pub.

Yet his presence makes the place undeniably "Trini".

And the Soca Warriors website is 100 per cent Trini.

There can be no better compliment.

Special Thanks: Surfing the Soca Warriors Online website with Trinidad & Tobago Express Newspapers, sport-writer Mr. Lasana Liburd.....thank you Lasana........