Messages

31

Football / Re: Andre Fortune’s youth soccer team heads to London to play with storied clubs

« on: March 22, 2014, 08:26:27 PM »

This brother does some exceptional work with these kids as evidence shows in his own two sons. This will be a very good trip for them to test themselves in England. I love to see these boys play...quality stuff all the time. I'll have to pull up Fortune socks for making the kids run sprints after the game though!

32

Football / Re: Soca Princesses begin qualifying preparation.

« on: March 20, 2014, 02:13:50 PM »

Match report LOL

From TT Wolf's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/TTwomensleaguefootball


WNT SENIOR TEAM ANNIHILATES UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON 7-0.
GOALSCORERS: TASHA ST. LOUIS, MAYLEE ATTIN-JOHNSON, KENNYA CORDNER, LAUREN HUTCHINSON.

GAME 2 TONITE VS COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (7:30PM)



Cheers   19

That is Charleston Southern University...weak opponent. Apart from USC, these other schools aren't quality enough to give them a true preparation test. Should have scheduled USC, Clemson and Furman for the best quality games (IMO)

33

Football / Re: Epic! Costa Rica tops T&T for U-20 WWC berth

« on: January 23, 2014, 11:20:37 AM »

Coops, I agree with you as far as things will not change because the federation needs to get their act together first.

Tiresais, US have the best women team in the world. We could do with a decent US coach.

But coops have a valid point, nothing will change until de federation improves.

We could do with a decent T&T coach, or any nationality - where we getting the money to hire a US coach? They'll (rightly) demand a wage more in-line with US Coaches, which will be hire than the going rate in T&T. They also won't have any contextual knowledge of the country, and in some cases less motivation

There are quite a few very experienced and well respected US based Trini coaches who could fill these roles if the TTFA were really interested in that concept. Some have more than enough experience to help in other areas of Administration; Player Development Programming; Coaching Education; Sports Business acumen; Public Relations and Marketing; Fundraising and Infrastructure Development; Staff Development; Coaching Education Curriculum Development etc. etc. etc.
Some are Directors of Coaching in clubs with 5,000 players; some have built clubs from the ground up; some have coached and managed college programs; trained and developed players who play in US State, Regional and National teams at all age groups, some have developed coaches who now coach US national teams and MLS teams.
The only problem here is whether we you are willing to give these Trinidadians the same level of respect and pay that you would be willing to give to a non Trinidadian.

34

Football / Re: 2014 CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship Thread

« on: January 23, 2014, 11:00:35 AM »

We definitely do not rest anyone for the match versus the USA. This is what the girls have been training for. We play all our starters as usual, we play the game like we have been all tournament & that is too attack and keep attacking. We saw what happened with the U-17's recently when they tried to defend only. Their is no energy to attack when you are chasing the ball in your half all the time.

I would play a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3 and instruct our wide mid-fielders of their responsibilities on both sides of the ball (that is providing we have practiced these formations throughout our training-sessions). If we rest our best & then we get smoked everyone's "mindsets" will be deflated. Our confidence is high right now despite what just occurred against the Mexican's & we need every ounce of confidence we can muster moving forward. We will get scored on however everyone's mindsets must be that we can also score. Just my two cents for what it is worth.


Cheers   19

3-4-3 or 3-5-2 vs the USA 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 is asking to be destroyed.

First off, it doesn't matter what formation is used or who plays, they will be destroyed. These are the facts. The U.S. takes their football (especially women's football) seriously. We do not. The U.S. makes sure their teams are well prepared, well trained (from early) and regularly play against quality opposition, we do not. They put a support system in place so players can excel to and maintain their full potential. Lord knows we do not. It is time T&T stop playing the fool with this try ah thing football. This goes for the men too. Do the research, get the resources,go to work and be consistent with your efforts. That's how you qualify for a world cup. Not hoping and praying for a miracle. Ridiculousness.

Just wondering if resting key players in the US game could have made any difference in the late stages of the CR game since it appeared that the team was exhausted. Squandering a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes left with a WC berth on the line I find very hard to accept.

35

Football / Re: 2014 CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship Thread

« on: January 15, 2014, 10:43:19 AM »

So here is a question for this scenario going forward. If you were the coach would you rest some of your top players in the semi final against the US so they could be fresh for the third place game against CR? or do you play your best squad against the US to see if you can get a good result against them (not saying they can't), but strategically, what may be your options here? Looking to qualify up front by beating the US or make a sacrifice decision on that game and go all out against CR?

36

Football / Re: Howard University soccer 2013

« on: December 27, 2013, 10:12:59 AM »

HU athletic administration does not support soccer there anymore. Sometimes you can look at the coach, but that is not always the case, men"s D I college soccer is way more difficult to be successful now than in the past. Recruiting and funding has to be on par with the competition just to start with. Look at the roster and you see 2 trinis and a Jmicn...every other player is US based and the top US black players not interested in HU, when they are recruited by Maryland, N Carolina, Akron and top 20 teams. NCAA rules and funding makes it much more difficult to recruit international players at the D I level too. Take a look at USC UPstate a once successful DII program who transitioned to DI and after 7 years still can't see their way at the new level, they have the same coach who used to get big time players from all over the world, they still have the same DII budget and can't get top players anymore so they one step above HU.
HU alum should send a message to the athletic administration to let them know how important a legacy HU soccer is and that it is very necessary to properly fund the program and hire an experienced coach who could work to restore the program to some level of respectability....tall order though!

37

Football / Re: Youth Player Development

« on: November 16, 2013, 11:01:26 AM »

Sando i think if you could simplify what u wrote there we will understand what u trying to say,i don't think CK1 ask for a history on promises made by the past admin,all he suggested was if we had any valuable insights and coaching ideas feel free to discuss.

Yeah Coops: I am looking for some constructive info that others may feel ok to share. Maybe things they are doing that are helping the players they work with make significant progress in their development. For example, 3v1 posession is a daily staple; all small sided games have uneven teams (4 v 5) and we use multiple goals etc. i've just put together an outline for our spring training and I am including playing checkers as part of our training (our primary emphasis will be on the principles of play).

You can also work on the the 4 moments of the game:
Offensive
Defefensive
Transition - The moment the ball is won
Transition - The moment the ball is lost

Btw in the 1st video you said the kids are 8-9 years old are they playing on 11 aside field?

It'not a full size field.

we difinitely including 4 moments in the game in our spring training to compliment the principles of play.

38

Football / Re: Youth Player Development

« on: November 16, 2013, 10:59:39 AM »

Sando i think if you could simplify what u wrote there we will understand what u trying to say,i don't think CK1 ask for a history on promises made by the past admin,all he suggested was if we had any valuable insights and coaching ideas feel free to discuss.

Yeah Coops: I am looking for some constructive info that others may feel ok to share. Maybe things they are doing that are helping the players they work with make significant progress in their development. For example, 3v1 posession is a daily staple; all small sided games have uneven teams (4 v 5) and we use multiple goals etc. i've just put together an outline for our spring training and I am including playing checkers as part of our training (our primary emphasis will be on the principles of play).

You can also work on the the 4 moments of the game:
Offensive
Defefensive
Transition - The moment the ball is won
Transition - The moment the ball is lost

Btw in the 1st video you said the kids are 8-9 years old are they playing on 11 aside field?

It'not a full size field.

39

Football / Re: Youth Player Development

« on: November 16, 2013, 10:49:01 AM »

Number 8 and 10 have good technical ability. De number 8 reminds me of de Fortune player on we Under 17 team.

For me to make any more abservation I have to see a longer video.

# 10 is Fortune's younger brother and # 8 is one of two brothers who are also of Trinidadian parentage. I'll have some more updated footage coming soon from this team and the other academy programs I collaborate with.

40

Football / Re: Youth Player Development

« on: November 16, 2013, 10:31:11 AM »

Sando i think if you could simplify what u wrote there we will understand what u trying to say,i don't think CK1 ask for a history on promises made by the past admin,all he suggested was if we had any valuable insights and coaching ideas feel free to discuss.

Yeah Coops: I am looking for some constructive info that others may feel ok to share. Maybe things they are doing that are helping the players they work with make significant progress in their development. For example, 3v1 posession is a daily staple; all small sided games have uneven teams (4 v 5) and we use multiple goals etc. i've just put together an outline for our spring training and I am including playing checkers as part of our training (our primary emphasis will be on the principles of play).

41

Football / Re: Youth Player Development

« on: November 16, 2013, 10:23:20 AM »

I posted this video on another thread( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xac4TkqR04w ) but want to start a new one to discuss different ideas and concepts related to developing young players. If you think you have some valuable insights and coaching ideas please feel free to discuss.

I also just came across this one :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DThjb_XyyoU

The video you post on another thread how old are those kids? The team in red is well coach.

The kids in the first video at the time of that taping were mostly 8 & 9 years old.
The other video features a well coached team from Southern Cal (FC Barcelona So Cal) in red and Arsenal FC So Cal in yellow both teams are U-11

42

Football / Youth Player Development

« on: November 15, 2013, 12:11:22 PM »

I posted this video on another thread( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xac4TkqR04w ) but want to start a new one to discuss different ideas and concepts related to developing young players. If you think you have some valuable insights and coaching ideas please feel free to discuss.

I also just came across this one :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DThjb_XyyoU

43

Football / Re: 6 months of work... first game, first victory

« on: November 12, 2013, 09:54:13 AM »

I hope that I can get some feedback on this video It's a short clip of our U-10 players playing U-12 after 6 months of training. I know that there are some technical improvements to be made...your thoughts are welcomed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xac4TkqR04w

Wait nah ck1 just so you high jack meh thread :-) From the looks of it the kids playing a very good brand...on a day like that - the only thing that I would add is that I would challenge them to see if they can play quicker. They're clearly the better team and I doh imagine that they troubled by the opposition. In situations like that we would create different challenges for them - maybe winning the ball back before the other team is able to execute 2 passes etc. other than that looks like u have a great group of youths...which club is this?

Sorry breds...I just went with the first part of the thread title, no offence intended. Your points of observation are well taken and have actually been employed over the past year.

44

Football / Re: 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Women's Championship Thread.

« on: November 09, 2013, 09:42:49 AM »

This is a very serious matter and must be addressed in a very serious manner. Given the protocol that should be followed is one thing, making the gravity of the issues known to all is equally important. The future of the program could very well be hinged on the handling of this incident. We are talking about the welfare, saftey and well being of minor children, as a matter of fact it should be standard in any program the manner in which staff and players interact or are treated. The resulting investigation and handling by the TTFA and legal authorities must lead to a prpper RIsk Management policy for future operations of all programs, if no such policy is in place.
Furthermore, I have not seen or heard of any action taken by the Federation regarding the incident with the former U-20 coach who ignorantly ran a player to near death for making a mistake in a game! Please do not take these things lightly!

45

Football / Re: 6 months of work... first game, first victory

« on: November 09, 2013, 09:31:16 AM »

CK1:
- general immpression is that these kids are well coached

- evident in their awareness, understanding, decision making and execution

- saw lots of creativity, keep encouraging that

- me like how they playing it on the ground, according to meh pada from Elements, keep the ball rolling
L
keep on doing what you are doing, looks like you are on the right path

this is the age when most of their football brain/iq is developed

forward ever !!

Really appreciate you taking the time to view the clip and your response iw welcomed. This is a hard working group that are continuing to make great strides in their development.

46

Football / Re: 6 months of work... first game, first victory

« on: November 07, 2013, 08:09:56 AM »

I hope that I can get some feedback on this video It's a short clip of our U-10 players playing U-12 after 6 months of training. I know that there are some technical improvements to be made...your thoughts are welcomed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xac4TkqR04w

47

General Discussion / Re: Message to Men - Stop playing the buttock!!

« on: October 31, 2013, 10:41:05 AM »

Serious talk !

48

General Discussion / The Simple Solution to Tackle Youth Unemployment

« on: August 20, 2013, 09:31:44 AM »

The Simple Solution to Tackle Youth Unemployment
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130819165448-77238165-the-simple-solution-to-tackle-youth-unemployment (Link to the original article)

Companies used to train college graduates and help them learn the skills they needed on the job, but those days have largely passed. All too frequently, students graduate without tangible job skills and loaded with debt. They’ve fallen into what I call the training gap. It’s time for the U.S. to tackle youth unemployment by borrowing from the apprenticeship programs we have developed at Siemens in Germany.

In an article entitled “Over 20 Percent Youth Joblessness and Still No Apprenticeships”, economist Robert Lerman stated that the way out of youth unemployment is through apprenticeship programs which raise the skills and productivity of future workers. That is, turning “productive learners into productive earners”, while students are still in high school.

I admit – the story isn’t exactly a summer beach read, but it caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, I’m a big believer in apprenticeships as a vehicle for creating a highly skilled workforce as well as meaningful, well-paying work for young people. Second, my daughter just graduated from college and, like many young graduates, is working as a "fellow" after which she'll have to find permanent employment.

She’s not alone. According to a study released last year by the Pew Research Center (Young, Underemployed and Optimistic) just 54 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 currently have jobs.

That's the lowest employment rate for this age group since the government began keeping track in 1948.

In the typical apprenticeship, high school students enter the program while finishing high school. They take college classes, get paid, gain a skill while working and graduate with a degree. At Siemens, we have been involved in apprenticeships since the founding of our company in 1847. It is a concept which goes back for centuries and was alive and well in the U.S. at its founding. In fact, Benjamin Franklin was an apprentice.

In Germany today, Siemens has 10,000 paid apprentices. Each year we offer jobs to about 2,500 of these graduates. In total, approximately 84% of the apprentices go on to a job within the Siemens network.

Compare the U.S., which does not have a formal apprenticeship program, to two countries that do: Germany and Denmark. Both countries have deeply engrained and successful apprenticeship programs and their youth unemployment rates are 7.5% and 14% respectively. Given that the overall youth unemployment rate in Europe is 24%, these two countries appear to be doing something right.

At Siemens, we have imported our apprenticeship model to our recently expanded gas/steam turbine and generator plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, 18 recent high school graduates are in various stages of a 3 ½ year apprenticeship program that we created in partnership with Central Piedmont Community College. They attend classes and earn a significant paycheck while working for Siemens at our advanced turbine plant in Charlotte.

They will graduate debt-free with an Associate’s Degree in Mechatronics that combines expertise in the specialties of mechanical, computer, electronic, software control and system design engineering.

This is the floor for these kids, not the ceiling. Once they graduate, they will be Siemens employees with an average starting salary that is more than the average of a four year liberal arts graduate. Many will go on to earn engineering degrees, also on Siemens’ dime. There is absolutely no limit to what they can accomplish.

But, there is no state funding for this training. We are paying the cost ourselves. We believe it’s a smart investment in the long-term success of our company. The investment we make pays off in a workforce of long-term, highly dedicated, highly skilled employees.

With only 0.3% of American youth participating in apprenticeship programs compared to 50% - 70% in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, it’s easy to see why the U.S. has a training gap and why youth unemployment is so high.

But we can’t expand these programs on our own.

If apprenticeship programs are going to work here we need a firm commitment from both the public and private sectors and we need to start in high school. It must be a true partnership, between companies, educators and governments, with each party having “skin in the game” for it to produce meaningful results – in the form of highly skilled young adults ready for today’s global job market.

The correlation between youth apprenticeships, youth employment and economic prosperity is undeniable. It’s time for the U.S. to take a bold step towards reducing youth unemployment by borrowing from this idea. It’s a bet worth making.

Featured on:Higher Education

I was wondering if this could be applicable in T&T?

49

Football / Re: Thread for the T&T vs Mexico Game (20-Jul-2013).

« on: July 19, 2013, 07:08:11 AM »

The Dome is home to the Georgia State Panthers?? That should be Bulldogs, right?

Bulldogs is University of Georgia...based in Athens not Atlanta

50

Football / Re: A message to the T&T football team.

« on: July 16, 2013, 07:11:02 PM »

Flex: Big respect to you for starting this post, and big respect to the staff and players for the renewed approach to the game displayed yesterday. We are looking forward to seeing each of you raise the standard up another notch or two on Saturday. Warrior Nation is backing all of you in this soon to be epic battle against Mexico!
Blessings!

51

General Discussion / Re: Strange Sky rumbling

« on: July 10, 2013, 12:57:24 PM »

Gabriel tuning up his trumpet ...getting ready for the last call!

52

General Discussion / Re: The Obama Deception by Alex Jones

« on: June 25, 2013, 11:43:15 AM »

The current move towards a new world order with one world bank and a world government is no fantasy. (Definitely not!)
It is not something that the people of the world will willing want but if faced with a 3rd World War and the option of a new world order as a way of ending that war, most of us will go along with it and this is exactly the plan if we all sit back and allow these private bankers to take over the running of all our banks and various governments around the world.

This is not just about banks or Obama or world governments: Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." ...this is why the people did not see this coming , because it is done in secret/darkness!
What should we do: (6:13) "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand." ...protesting Wall Street or any other kind of protest can not stand up to this kind of evil!
How do we get the armour of God: John 3:7 "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."...Just as Babylon and every other previous world power fell; so too will this NWO as described in Daniel 2:31-45. Our only hope to escape that which is to come is in salvation through Jesus The Christ.
Blessings

53

Football / Re: Alcons Soccer Academy

« on: June 03, 2013, 08:06:47 AM »

They did not have a good showing from the reports I got. Although there were a few players with some potential, collectively, they were not anywhere near teams that have represented Alcons on these tours in the past.

54

Football / Re: Fortune favors Andre.

« on: May 13, 2013, 08:49:17 AM »

In my experience having been involved in many encounters with CASL, they traditionally put forth very good teams. I don't know this kids history, I'm just going on the info stated in the piece. Also in any given year, there are always CASL players represented in the US teams, they send allot of players to very big Div 1 programs - the current coach of UNC Chapel Hill is a coach at CASL. I rate their set up, that said there are other very good club in NC as well. Sounds like you have a little beef with the CASL organization.

I'm not sure why you got the idea that I have some kind of beef with their organization. I have a good rapport with many of their staff, even the CEO. I look at football development with a microscopic lens and have my opinion on what I am seeing. In fact, what I see you doing in some of your videos is more development that most of those guys attempt to do. I come across many of these guys in my work and challenge them with hard questions about things they do or say they are doing in the interest of developing players...you would be very suprised to hear some of the answers or non answers (that's not just CASL either).
I hope that you are not using "very Big D I college programs" as your a standard for development; if a player from any part of the world could run 100 mph around the field all game, they could play in any of those programs; why you think you don't see as many players with abilities like yours playing in those programs anymore? The Chapel Hill coach is only there for 2 purposes...(1) to recruit people who could galavant up and down the field & (2) to create an illusion for parents and players that CASL has something good going on. There is no individual player development happening there only recruiting to build teams...not players. I have more insight on these things than "any beef"with them.
I'm watching your work closely too and listening/reading what you are saying (hope you don't mind being under the microscope, because accountability is important for proper development to take place)...keep up the good work you have started and please don't jump to any conclusions that I am looking for any "beef" with you or anyone else; that's not my style  nor interest in posting any responses or opinions on this topic or any other topic that I carefully choose to respond to. Respect!

55

Football / Re: Fortune favors Andre.

« on: May 12, 2013, 05:44:29 PM »

He is in an excellent setup in CASL, they always produce very good players..

Sorry to say, but CASL had nothing to do with this player's development or football journey, this is the first season that he is playing with them. He previously played with the Academy program in Greensboro which is a 2 hour drive from his home. I didn't see any of CASL players in the US U - 17 team either...CASL is way overrated in the area of player development, (IMO) they could recruit players to put some decent teams on the field, but they not developing any players themselves!

56

Football / Re: Fortune favors Andre.

« on: May 11, 2013, 07:20:46 AM »

Most likely these guys have help writing their responses from their Trini parents. Great job. Balanced, level-headed, and thoughtful responses.

Flex, I was thinking. It would be nice to get a lil background on the Trinbago parents of these kids as part of the bigger story. Who they are, their own footballing past, where in Trinbago they grew up. I think they will appreciate it and the readers will also love it as it completes the story. Just a thought.

Thanks to both for the interview.

All the best with your future football career Andre

I agree, however, sometimes they prefer not to be revealed....

But I will still double check.

Regards.

Flex: this is another outstanding piece of journalism. I'm very impressed with the introduction and the specific questions you ask, it really helps to frame the opportunity for the fans to learn a bit more about the player. Keep up the excellent work.

57

Football / Re: Fortune favors Andre.

« on: May 10, 2013, 02:37:15 PM »

Most likely these guys have help writing their responses from their Trini parents. Great job. Balanced, level-headed, and thoughtful responses.

Flex, I was thinking. It would be nice to get a lil background on the Trinbago parents of these kids as part of the bigger story. Who they are, their own footballing past, where in Trinbago they grew up. I think they will appreciate it and the readers will also love it as it completes the story. Just a thought.

Thanks to both for the interview.

All the best with your future football career Andre

Perhaps got a few pointers from his parents, however, this is an exceptional young man with excellent intellect and attitude. A young professional in the making. He's Ivy League eligible academically too!

58

Football / Re: Fortune favors Andre.

« on: May 10, 2013, 02:33:55 PM »

wonder if he was ever on the Radar for the US team.....

he played well in the tournament and the US team did not look extraordinary, I wonder if he was even on a regional team or something.

A lot of good players are falling through the cracks in the US

Loss for the US ...gain for TnT

He was recommended to the Region III staff and did well to make the region team, from there he went to National camp and later was invited to the residency program at the same time as Shaq Moore, he just chose to play for T&T. Seeing T&T in Germany 2006 had a tremendous impact on many fans around the world. It's a shame that all that momentum just went down the toilet.

59

Football / Re: What is enough time to prepare teams.

« on: April 17, 2013, 09:22:56 AM »

panama played at least twice as many games as us plus they were together longer. these panamanians were no more gifted or 'special' than our boys. they had confidence and team cohesiveness born of better preparation.


we have at least 3  cultural barriers to success that cannot be fixed with pure technical development.


(1) we either coddle youngsters, or over-respect older players. a big part of terry fenwick's success in local  football was picking youthful hunger and energy over established names, and motivating them to perform. fenwick's teams were the youngest, most disciplined, and defensively stingy in the league. seecharan, garcia, gomez and sam are all very capable of playing professionally in the pro-league. instead they playing schoolboy intercol. come like lifting sponge cake to train for a body building competition.


(2) we have to breed mental toughness into our young players so that we are consistently at our best as a team. a big difference in our game from costa rica to panama was that some of our 'big' players were present physically but not mentally.


(3) our culture does not place a high enough value on self-sacrifice. concepts like running of the ball to support your teammates, or using the ball to carve out space are clearly more difficult for us to grasp. we need more time together relative to countries like Canada, whose youths seem to get this instinctively. if they have 10 games, we might need about 15 to reach the equivalent understanding.

That's not a cultural shortcoming...that is what football requires you to do!

60

Football / Re: What is enough time to prepare teams.

« on: April 17, 2013, 09:20:25 AM »

That's a tough question. Considering The US team played 42 games in preparation for this tournament, in addition, the players live together at IMG for the past two years...it's not just about preparation, you have to play football when the time comes. Coaches and players have to perform!