Letter to the Trinidad Newsday
THE EDITOR: Soca Chutney Warriors? Lord Shorty (Ras Shorty I) must be turning in his grave! In case no one noticed, it was the efforts of our ancestral and present footballing heroes who, by their collective footballing skills have brought us to this point — Germany 2006. From Joey Gonsalves to Kelvin Barclay to Kelvin Jack, Stollmeyer to Lawrence, Rodrigues to Birchall, Mulren to Andrews, Archibald to Latapy, De Leon to Yorke, David to John, Khan to Whitley — we have been blessed in this tiny footballing nation with a host of world-class players. "Soca Warriors" is for today (’05) what "Strike Squad"’ was for ’89, and the then CONCACAF powerhouse known then as just "Trinidad and Tobago" was for ‘73 — (our ‘73 heroes, by the way, represented our culture on tour with their own rhythm section after matches; even after our heart-breaking 1-2 "loss" to Haiti!) What was their name then — Trinidad and Tobago.
What is our name today? — Soca Warriors? What would it be in the next sixteen years? — Trinidad and Tobago I hope, not "TT", not Tobago, not Trinidad, not Laventille, not Barrackpore, not San Fernando, not Chaguanas, not Port-of-Spain, not Scarborough, not Icacos and not Charlotteville! Our name is Trinidad and Tobago.
For all Ras Shorty I fought for back in the ’70s — from Endless Vibration to Om Shanti — few people seem to understand that Soca is the ultimate merging of our varied cultural rhythms, entangled with the borrowed soul music of the ’60s and ’70s, with that of a most wonderful internationally established musical genre called Calypso. The morphing of pop Indian music with calypso occurred over three decades ago and has evolved over that time into chutney music. Ever heard of Sundar Popo? ("A scorpion sting me, ah tink ah go dead. . ..")
Stop this nonsense! Soca is Trinidad and Tobago; it is the entirety of who we are, encompassed in one ever-evolving Trinbagonian art form.
One person I know who has no interest in this nickname foolishness, thank God, is Leo Beenhakker. All our coach seems to be interested in is our boys "playing" their "own game."
Birchall and Whitley joined the squad a little late to bring in their special kind of fight and professional technique; Yorke and Shaka held us together and Latapy came and "vibes it up."
Let us sit back and enjoy the skill and character of our players and accept them as Trinidad and Tobago (aka "Soca Warriors" if you may), but please, let good sense prevail while I go and listen to some Stevie Wonder and Ataklan music.
ANDRE STUART REYES
Mt Lambert