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Offline E-man

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Ron La Forest Thread.
« on: June 05, 2008, 09:41:24 PM »
La Forest stages Football Fair
Newsday Reports


Thursday, June 5 2008

RON LA Forest, coach of Pro League club Ma Pau SC, recently staged a Football Fair in Avanhanda, Brazil, which attracted approximately 700 children.

La Forest, the former Trinidad and Tobago striker and youth team coach, is happy with Ma Pau’s elevation to the Pro League ranks but stresses that the squad will need to expand their skill knowledge and commitment.

A few of the Brazilian players are due to join the Ma Pau team for training, with the prospects of earning contracts to the Pro League debutants, while La Forest is hopeful that some of his club players can progress to the top leagues in England and Europe.

At Avanhanda, La Forest was given a “royal welcome” by Mayor Rogeriqfinco Fatore, including an official welcome dinner and good hospitality by the residents. At present, arrangements are being made for the Brazilians to come to Trinidad in August.

« Last Edit: March 14, 2015, 04:59:12 AM by Flex »

Offline weary1969

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Re: La Forest stages Football Fair
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2008, 10:23:02 PM »
Do your do Ron
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline dreamer

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Re: La Forest stages Football Fair
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2008, 08:57:21 PM »
Boy, do yuh ting La Forest and try tuh think big ...... and best of luck Cornell  Glen (of Ma Pau), previously Beenie's weapon of mass destruction. La Forest didn't impress at all though, the way how he handled the national youth team. Anyway good luck.
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Offline weary1969

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Re: La Forest stages Football Fair
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2008, 09:35:36 PM »
I believe there was nuff inteference like them long time spanish stations wit dat team
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Offline Mango Chow!

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Re: La Forest stages Football Fair
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2008, 06:09:28 AM »
Boy, do yuh ting La Forest and try tuh think big ...... and best of luck Cornell  Glen (of Ma Pau), previously Beenie's weapon of mass destruction. La Forest didn't impress at all though, the way how he handled the national youth team. Anyway good luck.

   I eh know what went down wit de yute team, but,  Ron La, to me, is one of the most influential T&T football personalities I have ever come across.
(besides, coaching under ttff comes with its......"challenges", seen and unseen, as we all know)
He used to emphasize positive reinforcement and was always very nurturing and encouraging on  and off the field.  Even though I talkin' about many, many moons ago, am willing to bet that he has only gotten better and I like what he's doing here.  I wish him all the best and will now be a supporter of Ma Pau. 

All the best, Ron La!   


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Tallman

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La Forest: No decision on Ma Pau offer yet
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2009, 08:54:30 AM »
La Forest: No decision on Ma Pau offer yet
T&T Guardian


Ron La Forest has denied accepting the new offer of Youth Coach at Ma Pau SC as announced on Tuesday during a press conference by the Woodbrook football club promoting their Brazil trip this month. It was announced that Ron La Forest has accepted the role of youth coach but the 2008 Ma Pau head coach is saying that no decision has been made final by him.

“I can confirm that we had talks with a new offer on the table but I haven’t agreed to anything just yet,” said La Forest when contacted by the Trinidad Guardian. La Forest was replaced by 54-year-old Brazilian Ubirajara Veiga Da Silva earlier this month. “I said that it’s a good offer and I appreciate what they have on the table for me. But as I’ve explained to them (Ma Pau), I have a number of offers from other clubs as well and I want to wait until the end of the month to make a final decision,” continued the former Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive and St Anthony’s College coach.

“I want to add that I have no malice against Ma Pau. They have been good to me in the past and even now putting a good offer at me. “But I just prefer to hold out until the end of the month before accepting anything.” Meantime, the now former Ma Pau head coach preferred not to release the identities of his interests. Under La Forest, Ma Pau finished their Pro League debut season in ninth on the League table. Ma Pau is currently on its way to Brazil to take part in the Finta Cup round robin tournament in Minas Gerias in preparation of the 2009 season.

A total of 11 players left Trinidad on Wednesday inclusive of their newest signing, Jamaican goalkeeper Shane Mattis of St Ann's Rangers. Tyrone Charles, Akeem Benjamin, Keeron Benitto, Akeno Morgan, Sayid Freitas, Trevin Caesar, Adrian Noel, Sherron Joseph, Sayrome Smith are other players making the trip. Imorde Silva, Jane de Alencar and Vinicus Thereza are three Brazilian players who represented Ma Pau in 2008 and will join up with the team in Brazil along with new coach Da Silva.
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Offline Flex

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La Forest now with Rangers.
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2015, 01:55:33 AM »
La Forest now with Rangers.
T&T Express Reports.


RON LA FOREST’S debut as St Ann’s Rangers interim head-coach on Wednesday night saw some improvement. Rangers put up a real fight before going down 4-3 to Police, while surging Point Fortin Civic whipped early season leaders San Juan Jabloteh by a 5-1 margin and moved into third spot. Both matches were played on Wednesday night at the Marvin Lee Stadium.

Civic have registered six wins, a draw, and one loss in the last eight league matches under Leroy De Leon, who was appointed interim head coach in February, replacing Reynold Carrington. Last season’s “Golden Boot” winner and this season’s leading scorer, forward Marcus Joseph, notched his 13th goal this season, as Civic led 3-0 before the half.

Earlier, Rangers twice came from behind to hold Police 2-2 at the end of the first half before a Makesi Lewis double had the lawmen comfortable at 4-2. However, Josh Toussaint’s 84th minute penalty brought Rangers closer and cause some anxious final minutes for Police.

“[Our players] are in a slump right now; dead last,” said La Forest, a former Trinidad and Tobago international player and former coach at Jabloteh, Joe Public, now-defunct Ma Pau FC, and Guaya United. 

“So we would want to at least put some points on the board so that [our] players can start to feel like humans,” La Forest added. “I’m here for the rest of the season for observation. Also the guys play pretty well but they lack what we call football discipline so I am trying to instil football discipline in them to get results.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline coache

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2015, 09:38:27 PM »
Coach like LaForest should be in charge of the National youth program

Offline Tallman

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La Forest’s kids get expert advice
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2017, 08:04:01 PM »
La Forest’s kids get expert advice
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)


The young budding players from the Ron La Forest Soccer Coaching Academy received words of advice from some of the country’s sporting icons Hasely Crawford, Everald ‘Gally’ Cummings and Kenwyne Jones when the school held its end of year function on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Park, St Clair.

Crawford, the country’s first Olympic Gold medallist encouraged the players to work hard, saying there is no benefit without hardwork.

Crawford, who had his Olympic medal of 1976 with him on display, also encouraged youngsters to work towards having a proper diet, saying it can adversely affect their health.

Jones, who recently called it quits from all football, called on parents to support their lads in whatever field of endeavour they chose.

It was actually this support that help Jones move from youth football to international status where he represented English clubs Sunderland, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Bournemouth AFC, Southhampton and Sheffield Wednesday among others.

Gally urged the young players to be respectful to those in authority, particularly referees. And he called on local football administrators to select La Forest as a coach on the country’s technical staff.

“Gally” who took the “Strike Squad” to within a point of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup in Italy said if coaches are being chosen based on their achievements then La Forest, who is called the professor of coaching at his club Hydro Tech Guaya United, should be considered.

Under La Forest the Guayaguayare men copped the Caribbean Football Trust League (CFTL) League Cup and League titles in the T&T Super League. Cummings said La Forest’s return to his young players was a show of humility that is needed by all coaches locally.

The young players were engaged in football matches among themselves before taking on their parents in a feature game. Afterwards they were showered with trophies, calendars, medals and certificates of participation at the academy.
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Offline Tallman

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La Forest's Real West Fort coming strong
« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2020, 08:15:00 AM »
La Forest's Real West Fort coming strong
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)


In 10 years new football club Real West Fort United will be one of the top clubs in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) as well as in the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean, former national striker and coach Ron La Forest has said.

La Forest who is known popularly as 'the Professor' by the clubs he has coached locally, unveiled his club 'Real West Fort' to the public at a press launch on Tuesday at the Diego Martin Sports Complex, a club made up only of players from west Trinidad, such as Maraval, Diego Martin, Petit Valley, Point Cumana, Carenage, L'Anse Mitan and Cocorite, among other areas.

The club will contest the second tier of the Ascension Invitational Football League which is scheduled to kick-off at the end of the month (July). La Forest said his interest also is to tackle the top flight T&T Pro League or whatever the country's top league will be called, with a special focus on developing and marketing local talent.

Despite the launch, the club is still in the process of tying up loose ends such as being legally registered, opening its bank account, drafting of its constitution.

According to La Forest, they have already identified two potential sponsors for his team who they are currently in talks with, and he wants more corporate citizens to support their gesture of development of the youth and having a competitive team from west Trinidad in the country's top-flight leagues.

With little or no big-name players in their camp, La Forest said he will continue what he has been doping for many years, which is to develop a team to prevail in any tournament he enters. The team began preparation soon after Tuesday's launch with more than 20 players under La Forest's watch.

La Forest said he is aware of the environment his team will be competing in, one that requires funding and experience on the field. But while these areas are being worked on. According to La Forest: "The club's major strength is the experience, passion and focus of the Board of Directors to set up a football club that is sustainable, community-driven and based that creates lasting social change to use football as the vehicle."

"The region the team represents is a strong PNM area, our representative is the former Minister of Sports, the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister. The stadium earmarked to be our home ground - the Diego Martin Sporting Complex is the largest single investment in sport made by this PNM government so we expect a buying in on the vision of our club by the political powers that be. The regions we represent are hotbeds of gang activities and crime, but the team is viewed as a vehicle to create change and break borderlines."

"Many of the regions represented are low-income areas but are mix with areas of great wealth. The club will truly be unstoppable if the affluent ones support it. In our region, although a lot of people generally have access to technology, a high number still depend on traditional means to get information and access services," La Forest said.
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Offline Tallman

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Ron gets real: Forms Real West Fort United, his first senior team
« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2020, 08:23:10 AM »
Ron gets real: Forms Real West Fort United, his first senior team
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


FORMER national team striker Ron La Forest is making his boldest move as a football coach.

Having had successful coaching stints with local schools and club teams, La Forest has formed Real West Fort United, his first senior club. The team will be based at the spanking new Diego Martin Sporting Complex and hopes to kick into action next month.

“We have been invited to play in the Ascension League this August,” stated La Forest. “Having said so, if things are fruitful and we can get the sponsors we are looking for, we will apply to the Pro League. We will be heading for that. If that doesn’t work out, we will try and get in the Super League.”

La Forest felt it was time to have his own club, having previously worked for others.

“I have been serving for a long time,” he said, “and every time I serve, people tend to get above themselves and take back their team.

“That is my team. That is Ron La Forest’s team. I have two good assistants with me. I have Shurland Hartely and I have Gordon Pierre, that helping me form this team.”

As a player, La Forest was a national team staple and had stints with Defence Force and the star-studded ASL Sports in the 1980’s. He also had a stints in the USA and Hong Kong. Coaching wise, La Forest has been head-coach with the national under-17, under-20 and under-23 teams, and a national senior team assistant-coach as well. La forest, 65, has also had stints at ECM Motown, Trinity Pros and San Juan Jabloteh.

Asked what he has been doing in the three years since dominating the 2017 Super League, when he led Guaya United to the league and cup double, “Ron La” was straightforward as ever,

“You mean since Guaya fire me?” he replied in typical no-nonsense fashion.

“Well, I have always had the Ron La Forest Academy. I have been handling my youths and them for a long time. Having teams like Guaya and those have been like a part-time something, but I have been running my coaching school since 1997. Now, I have decided to bring out my first senior team.”

A product of Carenage and Belmont, La Forest will base his team around the West region which he knows best.

“God provided a lovely stadium in Diego Martin and I decided to form a team from this region. I decided to go into the areas like Carenage, Point Cumana, L’anse Mitan, Cocorite, Diego Martin, St James and Maraval, to name a few, and bring out a team called Real West Fort United,” he said.

The former Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive coach is looking at forming his squad primarily with young players, along with some experienced players.

“You find that players leave school and they have nowhere to go and nothing to do. So we looking for the 17, 18 and 19-years-olds, out of school. Of course, we need some experienced players in the side to keep it steady.”

La Forest launched his new team yesterday and hopes to hold sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Diego Martin Sports Complex. He hopes Real West Fort United will also be a positive force in the area he has focused on.

“The word is out now and I hope more people will want to come around the organisation,” La Forest declared, “This is a plus for the Western hemisphere where there is too much violence and distraction. There is too much of that on this side. If we could have something that the youngsters could look up to, that will be a plus for them.”
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Flex

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2020, 06:15:37 AM »
La Forest to guide footballers at new club.
By Jelani Beckles (Newsday).


FORMER national footballer and Under-17 team coach Ron La Forest hopes to develop quality footballers through his new club Real West Fort United.

Newsday visited the team’s trials at Corporate Ground in Westmoorings, on Saturday.

The owners of the team are La Forest, Shurland Hartley and Gordon Pierre.

West Fort United would comprise players mostly from West Trinidad and Port of Spain.

La Forest said forming the club has been years in the making. “This was in the making since 2017. I was down (at) Guaya (United), I did tremendously well in Guaya. I won the league and the cup for them that year 2017…this initial idea of mine it has been in my mind about five years ago when they decided to build the stadium down in Diego Martin.”

The Diego Martin Sporting Complex was completed last year.

The West Fort coach wants to support the communities of west Trinidad. “This is a good plus for me to embrace the whole community of Diego Martin, Carenage, Pt Cumana, L’Anse Mitan, and to form a nice team to play in that stadium down there.”

Pierre also wants to make a difference through football. “The club was formed to harness the footballing talents of western Trinidad and use it as a vehicle for community change and restoration.”

Pierre has high hopes for the team. “In five years I see Real West Fort United being the top football team in T&T with strong community roots and support. In ten years I see Real West Fort United being one of the top clubs in the Caribbean Football Union and Concacaf.”

La Forest said he is hoping to choose 30 players by next weekend from the trials currently be held.

He planned to give some of the top performing players t-shirts at the end of Saturday’s training session to signify the talent he sees in those players.

Discussions are being held with potential sponsors, while he has gotten some assistance with trials.

“There are some people who are interested in being around us so they decided to come and start us up with some equipment and stuff like that. We are in talks right now in terms of sponsorship.”

West Fort United are aiming to compete in the Ascension League, which La Forest is hoping kicks off in August.

”For starters they have what you call an Ascension League…we made a request because it is an invitational tournament. We made a request to get in and verbally they told us that we are inside.”

It was a youthful squad in training on Saturday, but La Forest said he is willing to pass on his knowledge to all.

“Try-outs are still taking place. It does not matter to me (because) I enjoy teaching, so if you are young, old, indifferent it does not matter to me. I was just telling them what matters is that you came here for a purpose…and once you could listen to me and follow my instructions it should be easier for you to play.”

« Last Edit: July 05, 2020, 06:38:58 AM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2020, 04:05:15 PM »
La Forest wants T&T senior men's team coaching job.
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian).


Over-looked for a top coaching job in T&T for far too long, Ron La Forest, a former national striker turn coach, is sending a message to the powers that be, that he can coach too.

Not only can he coach, but the "Professor" as La Forest, is fondly called, has had success with almost every team he touched, dating back to 1984 when he retired from the game as a player and took on the coaching job of Frontline FC in the Northern Football Association (NFA). There he won both the League and Knock Out titles.

This success continued with ECM Motown two years later, and then at T&T Pro League campaigners San Juan Jabloteh in 1999/2000 where he was voted 'Coach of the Year' in consecutive years.

La Forest also enjoyed successful stints with Joe Public Football Club in the Pro League and then Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), but his crowning moments came at St Anthony's College in 2001/2002 and with Guaya United where he exceeded all expectations.

At the West mooring Tigers, La Forest made a clean sweep of all the titles at stake in 2002, after scoring 106 goals and conceding 13 in a season where they played 23 games, won 22 and drew one game.

At Guaya he led the team to victory in the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU) competition, as well as the top position in the Champion of Champion play-off which earned them entry into the National Super League in 2013 for the first time.

La Forest told Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday that he was ridiculed at a press conference ahead of the 2013 T&T Super League start, as he was told as first-timers to try and not be demoted. Instead, La Forest's determination to prove them wrong when he guided his charges to a historic feat of being the first time a debutant team had won the League.

Despite this, and other achievements at all levels, La Forest believes his hard work and talent have been ignored, saying: "I am deeply saddened which is why I decided to do this interview. I have been serving for all these years, I have given my life to the game for all these years and still giving my life to the game, and I've been overlooked. With this new Normalisation Committee coming into existence, I hope someone will look at me and give me a chance to give back something to the game," La Forest said.

He had three stints at the national levels, as the under-17 coach in 2001: the under-21 coach in 2004 and as an assistant to Bertille St Clair in 2005 on the senior national team, saying after that he has been discarded of.

The Carenage resident who guided Hydro Tech Guaya United to the League and Knock Out titles in the Super League in 2017, said he is ready to throw his hat back in the ring for a coaching job because of the state of our football: "Right now my hat is ready to go into the right because I feel saddened by what I have seen with the football and where the football is going. A lot of things missing from it and I feel in that department I can make a great contribution."

His contribution stems from back in the early 1970s as a player at Belmont Intermediate to the T&T national teams at all levels, and for the Defence Force football team and ASL, where he grabbed all the newspaper headlines and spotlights on the television as a striker, scoring hundreds of goals.

La Forest also had the distinction of being the first player from the Caribbean to play in Hong Kong in 1984 before ending a career that saw him come face-to-face with the world's greatest Pele and world-renown coach from Brazil Carlos Alberto Perreira, among many others such as Welshman Ryan Giggs, who is not the coach of Wales and a former Manchester United stand-out.

All these achievements have been captured in a book he produced recently to remind him of the history and legacy in the sport. He said the book will also enable the many young budding footballers to know who is is and his worth.

La Forest explained that as a former army man he will bring a level of discipline to the game if he is given the opportunity to coach at the national level again.

He said coaches in the past have not utilised T&T's strength in the game which is skilful football. La Forest has since started his team by the name Real West Fort where he intends to contest the Ascension League, the Super League and eventually the Pro League.

« Last Edit: November 03, 2020, 04:11:10 PM by Flex »
The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2020, 10:51:20 AM »
Typically, it's not proper form for a coach to "go public" with wanting the job of a coach that's still installed in the position. Is this a case of a sensationalised headline? I read him saying he wants to contribute/coach at NT level. Where does he say he wants Fenwick's job? Or does he want to join Fenwick's staff?
« Last Edit: November 05, 2020, 10:54:34 AM by asylumseeker »

Offline maxg

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2020, 10:59:49 AM »
Typically, it's not proper form for a coach to "go public" with wanting the job of a coach that's still installed in the position. Is this a case of a sensationalised headline? I read him saying he wants to contribute/coach at NT level. Where does he say he wants Fenwick's job? Or does he want to join Fenwick's staff?
Yet is coach Fenwick 'installed', or has he installed himself ? I expect more cowboys to want to ride the same (b)ucking horse. Hell of a Rodeo. Plenty bulls, nuff  :bs:  Lottsa  :clown: . Horses and solitary Cowboys galore.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2020, 11:02:58 AM by maxg »

Offline Tallman

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Re: Ron La Forest Thread.
« Reply #15 on: November 18, 2020, 03:39:09 PM »
Take a trip down memory lane, where one legendary former national footballer recounts his experience playing in Hong Kong, meeting the likes of Pele and scoring the first goal at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Ron La Forest's career has seen him visit over 47 countries, a journey he talks about in his new book.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

 

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