Moments after hearing the news of Akeem Adams suffering a heart attack in Hungary on Thursday, National Senior team head coach Stephen Hart was standing before hundreds of students and aspiring professional footballers at his alma-mater St Benedict’s College in La Romain.
Hart, who played for the former South Zone giants before migrating to Canada, was invited by the school to address the students. He told the students that the 22-year-old Adams would have come out of the unfortunate experience on a successful note, if even he didn’t manage to return to the game as a player.
“This morning we received some very sad news about one of our players Akeem Adams. He suffered a heart attack in Hungary after a training session with his club. Our prayers thoughts are with him and his family but when he comes out of this… he would have been successful still even if his career does not continue as a player but he would have fought through an ordeal and survived it and we can learn from that,” Hart said.
Continuing his address, Hart appealed to them to have each others back on and off the football pitch, adding that every lesson learn in the game can be applied to everyday life.
“It’s completely a team effort. Yes you admire the individual but you always have to admire the team. The best player will not function as good as they can if they team is not functioning well. You do everything for the team and sometimes you may not like it,” Hart said.
He used Kazakhstan-based defender Robert Primus as a prime example of one who did it for the team during the recent OSN Cup in Saudi Arabia during which T&T defeated the hosts 3-1.
“I said to him ‘Primus we have no left back here and you have to play it .. no problem boss was his response.’ Now I know he was not happy but he went out there and he did his job. Then he said boss ‘next time play me in the right position’. And guess what the next game I had to use him in the same position and he said to me ‘no problem boss’.”
Primus not only did his job as a defender but he also had an assist on two goals for Kevin Molino and Kenwyne Jones.
“You have to have each others back. Say to your teammate ‘I will cover you...so get your act together’. And tomorrow he must have your back.”
“One day your teammate may not have the best game. And after the game you give him a hug and say okay today you didn’t have a good day. Tomorrow you better have my back.
And then when all things are equal, you need somebody to play above themselves. Someone who can carry the team, who can raise the level. Ronaldo raises the level, Messi raises the level and Dwight Yorke raised the level.”
Hart concluded by saying “I’ll tell you this… football speaks everything. It taught me everything. It taught me every lesson that I learnt up to today. You have to be committed, you have to have respect, you have to work hard and you have to have the desire to achieve. It all applies to life in many ways.”