Maple eyeing Pro League
Kern De FreitasThursday, November 30th 2006
The old and the new: former Maple footballers mingle with the new generation. From left, back row: Quincy Paul, Maple president Paul "Polly" Regis, Shay Seymour, Leon Tobias, Kenaz Seegobin, Carlton "Squeaky" Hinds and current coach Rolf Bartolo. Front Row: From left, Chevon Wilson, Hyron Browne-Baptiste, Hans Pierre and Mark Latapy.
Reunions are usually full of emotion, full of great memories, and even the not-so-great moments get transformed into light conversation pieces that create an almost hallowed atmosphere people talk about for a long time after.
Sunday's reunion of Maple Sports Club, an organisation that has had a rich sporting history in Trinidad and Tobago for several decades, at the Federation Park residence of proud "Mapleite" Professor Courtenay Bartholomew, didn't differ radically from this description.
There was a lot to celebrate and many memories to share at the event, by the several famous, and not as renowned former sportsmen who have contributed, through their pride and love of sport in general, to the enhancement of Trinidad and Tobago's ample traditions.
The only solemn occasion at the lively affair came at the announcements of, and moment of silence for some Mapleites and family members of some others, who passed away during the last year.
This list of six included former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies opener, Nyron Asgarali, who died about seven weeks shy of his 86th birthday, T&T Hall of Famer for football George Cumberbatch, and past former Maple secretary Pernell Welch.
Lucille Ellis, mother-in-law of former national football captain Sedley Joseph; Sandra Lamy, wife of former footballer and veteran sports commentator and administrator Dave Lamy; and Lorna Joseph, wife, of Sedley's older brother Tim Joseph were the family members remembered.
Maple's list of honorees for 2006 also included another former national skipper, Alvin Corneal; well-known former T&T goalkeeper now technical director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, Lincoln "Tiger" Phillips; former Maple president Emmanuel Carter; current president Paul "Polly" Regis; and former Maple footballer Rolf Bartolo, coach of the current Maple crop, who finished run-ners-up in the Northern Football Association league for 2006.
The oldest surviving member of the Maple family, is 92-year-old Carlton John, father of former works and transport minister Carlos John, and he was not forgotten by Bartholomew and company, who presented him with a plaque of a 1946 photograph, where he was part of the line-up.
The effervescent Andy Ganteaume, never shy to take a journey down memory lane, was only too happy to recount occasions of sporting grandeur and contests, featuring Maple and major rivals Malvern, Colts, Shamrock, and other clubs that once battled for supremacy, during their greatest years in the 1950s and '60s.
Also among the Maple crowd were great former national goalkeeper Joey Gonzales, arguably T&T's best ever between the uprights according to his colleagues at the club; former West Indies cricketer and T&T cricket and football captain Willie Rodriguez (current president of Queen's Park Cricket Club), West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon and former national footballers, honorary Mapleites Carlton "Squeaky" Hinds and Shay Seymour. They played for Malvern and Colts respectively.
As expected, Gordon was called upon by his Maple associates to give an update on the WICB's progress in 2006.
The news was encouraging, especially from a financial aspect, as Gordon highlighted the significant reduction of an approximately US$6.6 million deficit into a minor profit.
Adding to that, Gordon also revealed a recent development had taken place where the T&T Government had pulled out of the lottery planned by the WICB to raise funds for development. The WICB head, though, indicated Government were prepared to make up for the shortfall this would cause through the establishment of a trust fund.
And of course, Gordon reiterated his continually emphasised hope of a third West Indies World Cup triumph when the region hosts the event next year. "We have the team now being well lead, highly motivated," Gordon stressed, "considerable talent, and now shaping that talent so that come March we can do what we all know we can, which is to win the (Cricket) World Cup (2007)."
Also encouraging from a Maple perspective was seeing the old and the new generation of Maple sportsmen mingle during Sunday's reunion. The older heads are hoping for a revival that will eventually culminate in a spot in the T&T Pro League in the not-too-distant future.
They've certainly had a great start in the NFA competition, and it can only augur well for tradition and history, if they can achieve these wishes, especially while figures of a great generation in T&T sporting history are around to see it.
