Fellas, again I have no issues with Coache's criticisms, the only thing that I hope is that his criticisms are not coming from a place of bias. The fact that he is a Benedicts/ Ivan Sampson fan means that he would be aware of all players playing in south in that era and he may remember one or two games involving Benedicts and Presentation College of which I would have been a part of. He should also know that Ivan has a coaching academy in Washington DC and does quite well with that, most of those kids are coming from the suburbs of Virginia. I did attend and play for Presentation College for a little while, but grew up just outside Point (Gonzalez Village) and spent two years going to Vessingny Secondary School. Both Ivan and I actually sat the same exam to transfer into Pres on the same day in the same office. Many Benedicts fans would be surprised to know that Ivan could have been at Pres had things worked out differently. The point is - I hope that Coache's response/criticism is not based on the fact that I attended one of his rival schools. I doubt it very much, but say what! As far the academy being established to make money, what I can tell you is that nothing I do in Trinidad will ever compensate me in manner that is remotely close to what I earned in the States. One or two guys on the forum knew me in the States and can attest to that, I still have a home in the US and allot of people questioned why I would leave that life to come back to Trinidad to do football of any kind, the answer is simple - I feel that with the talent that's here in this country, allot can be done if a professional developmental environment is created for them! I have seen it work in the States, and I strongly believe that it can be done here in Trini.
Now that said, it does cost money to run this thing, I have 6 people on payroll right now, there is office space to pay for, ground maintenance, equipment, uniforms, little things that you never think off (a Portable toilet as required by law is $1200 mthly)....and none of it is free - but it is simply the cost of running any organization in a professional manner.
Secondly, I do know where the talent is in south, and I have good football men in places like Point, La Brea, Siparia, Santa Flora, in fact I am going up to Moruga on Tuesday to see a 10 year old up there - apparently the youth man is a very talented and comes highly recommended from a gentleman who coaches a primary school up there. His school would have been playing in Tobago but lost in Arima in the regional finals - Coache should know what competition I am referring too. So believe me, I know where the talent is, however, our biggest challenge is working out the logistics of getting kids from those areas to come up here in San Fernando to train. We are working on those issues as we speak. One of the major problems today is that some parents/players are not as willing to make the necessary sacrifices as was the case in the old era. As an 11/12 year old, I already knew what it meant to take a taxis/bus at 5:30 in the morning from Gonzales to San Fernando, to Curepe and then to St Augustine for national under 14 training - only the rich had cars in those days so if you wanted it bad enough that's what you had to do as a south man. The parents of these kids that we are looking at today are just not willingly to do that, and most of them actually have cars. What they are hoping is that we can make arrangements to have their kids picked up, and, we are willingly to do just that - but again, its not free! So I do want Coache to know that I am fully aware of the location of allot of the talent in south and efforts are being made to get talented kids to a place that can afford them a better opportunity. I am very much man of these areas, and I know them well. In fact, there is a young man from Santa Flora that has already benefitted from the type of opportunities that we can provide - he has an offer of a full scholarship to one of the biggest schools in the US pending an SAT. There has never been a Trini playing at this type of University before. In fact, we have already secured scholarships for three players from the same school here in south to attend universities in the States, these players (high profile college footballers) had no options prior (which was very surprising). These schools will ensure that these players, once they perform - will have MLS opportunities and a chance of a better life.
The academy is set up for one purpose: to develop young players, expose them to outside competition, and lastly - to create opportunities for them. Our model is that those who "HAVE" will essentially pay for those who do not. My hope is that guys like Coache will come out from the disguise of the key board and make a contribution. I have received a few phone calls from a number of guys with "coaching schools" pretending to parents of interested players seeking information as what we hope to do differently, and I hope Coache aint one of them. As I stated to these people
http://usportt.com/archives/32158 we hope to work in unison with everyone and anyone for the betterment of players who want to be exceptional! In fact, this is the quote so ur doh have to go through the article:
“Lastly, I would like to state that we are here to work in unison with anyone who is
passionate about producing great kids and great players. I feel that in a country this
small, we simply cannot afford to be opposed to collaboration and the exchanging of
ideas that will ultimately contribute to the development of our players here in Trinidad
and Tobago. The only thing that we ask for is professionalism.”
Alright fellas, ah going and take a sweat in PVILLE, sorry bout the long response... Bless!