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Author Topic: Shaka Hislop Thread.  (Read 17137 times)

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Offline soccerman

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #30 on: May 12, 2014, 10:41:35 AM »
I watch that program a lot and for the most part they tend to be semi-casual in their attire, especially the younger analyst like Shaka and Taylor Twellman. Now had he worn a loafers he would've been able to pull off the no socks much better but Shaka understands the culture and knows how to dress accordingly. 

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #31 on: May 12, 2014, 12:53:15 PM »
Much ado about nutten ...

Offline Bakes

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #32 on: May 12, 2014, 12:54:21 PM »
Everyone dress comfortable. Nothing wrong with Shaka kit.

Shaka does tend to stand out as appearing too casual, but for the most part I think he's fine, especially since it appears that he's wearing jeans.  The no socks thing is what making it look bad... pants need to cover that up.

Offline elan

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #33 on: May 12, 2014, 01:23:34 PM »
Everyone dress comfortable. Nothing wrong with Shaka kit.

Shaka does tend to stand out as appearing too casual, but for the most part I think he's fine, especially since it appears that he's wearing jeans.  The no socks thing is what making it look bad... pants need to cover that up.

That's the style though. Why would you wear longer pants to cover it up. He probably have on those lil slip on socks
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Offline Bakes

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #34 on: May 12, 2014, 01:41:32 PM »
That's the style though. Why would you wear longer pants to cover it up. He probably have on those lil slip on socks

You'd cover it up because you're going on national TV and appearing before a possible international audience, in an official capacity for your employer.  But that's a personal style preference and I'm offering my personal take on it.  If his employer doesn't mind and he's fine with it, then no harm no foul.

Offline FF

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #35 on: May 12, 2014, 01:51:59 PM »
I ent know we have so much fashion plate in here...
THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES

Offline soccerman

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #36 on: May 12, 2014, 02:27:54 PM »
I ent know we have so much fashion plate in here...
How you mean, Russell Wesbrook does link me for tips

Offline soccerman

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #37 on: May 12, 2014, 06:47:49 PM »
Shaka need to fold the bottom of his pants to rock the no sock like this


Or simply he could simply wear pants like this ;D
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 07:05:27 PM by soccerman »

Offline Dinner Mints

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #38 on: May 12, 2014, 07:27:26 PM »
Man real outta style in here, boy.

Offline asylumseeker

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Offline Peong

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #40 on: May 13, 2014, 12:45:01 PM »

Offline fari

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #41 on: May 13, 2014, 01:11:04 PM »
Man real outta style in here, boy.

 ;D

Offline zuluwarrior

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #42 on: May 13, 2014, 01:56:42 PM »
Trini is so corrupted everything is a coverup .I wonder if the people on the panel was thinking what we thinking.
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Offline Mad Scorpion a/k/a Big Bo$$

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #43 on: May 14, 2014, 09:27:43 AM »
Fuh de love of God allyuh serious wid dis bullshite?!!  Nutten eh look bad dey from a TV viewing standpoint because is not a main focus of the camera at any point.  Man could rell nitpick jedd.

Offline rickstaa

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Re: Calling Shaka Hislop!
« Reply #44 on: May 14, 2014, 09:54:34 AM »
Man real outta style in here, boy.

 ;D
for real,look like a lot of old men on this forum lol


Offline Tallman

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Hislop: Sports has the power to nurture young minds
« Reply #46 on: July 14, 2016, 02:40:07 PM »
Hislop: Sports has the power to nurture young minds
By Sean Nero (T&T Guardian)


Football hall of famer and former national footballer Shaka Hislop yesterday underscored the power of sports in nurturing young minds and went on to debunk a widely held myth many among school administrators and parents that allowing children to become active in sports will serve as a direct impediment to their academic success.

Speaking at the close of the Atlantic/Ministry of Sport 17th annual Sport Desk Leadership Symposium yesterday, held at the Petrea Hall at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya the former Soca Warrior goalkeeper told hundreds of excited youths delighted to come face-to-face with him.

“Sport opened up opportunities for me academically and then academics opened up opportunities for me athletically in a way I don’t think I could ever have planned for. As a student I was alright at school; decent at football, as well, and my father continued to drum into me that the two went hand-in-hand.

“If I wasn’t doing well in school, I wasn’t playing well on the field and vice versa. So for me, it had always been about a balancing act about what I was doing in the classroom and what I was doing on the football field. That motivated me to continue and opened up opportunities for me that I don’t think one or the other might have done.”

Hislop continued, “It was through football that I attained a scholarship at Howard University. It was after playing at university and being spotted playing at university I was offered a spot with an indoor team. This was pre-MLS in the United States. A coach from the Baltimore Blast offered me a spot. As it turned out they were touring that summer in England and a scout spotted me in England and that’s how I found myself playing at Reading Football Club.”

The celebrated sportsman who was asked to speak on the topic “Being A Role Model”, said he did not know how to tackle the subject, citing it was not a phrase he used to describe himself. So he thought it would be cool to tell audience he was a reluctant role model.

In an effort to explain his decision to embrace the phrase “reluctant role model”, Hislop said, “I’ll tell you why I say that. I have never done anything in my life to be a role model. I just tried to be the best that I can be.

“I have said to people and I continue to say it up to this day, my mother threatened to put me over her lap and spank me if I ever embarrassed her. I think she will. I’ve used that as my moral compass. What would my mother expect? What would my father do? I’ve not tried to be anything that I wasn’t. I’ve not set out to do anything that seemed super human.”

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Offline royal

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #47 on: March 19, 2017, 01:10:24 PM »

Offline Tallman

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Soccer analyst Shaka Hislop’s love of country
« Reply #48 on: October 20, 2017, 02:15:00 PM »
Soccer analyst Shaka Hislop’s love of country
By Mark W. Wright (the undefeated.com)


“Natty” is getting peppered with shots, and the goalkeeper is not happy with his back line defenders’ lack of interest in playing defense.

“A wha’ kin’a foolishness business this, man?” the slow-moving Jamaican with long dreads shouts to no one in particular. “Everybody waaan’t score goal and be the star,” he continued, before restarting the attack again, hissing his teeth.

Never mind that Natty’s team is winning the Sunday morning kick-around on a bumpy soccer pitch in South Charlotte, North Carolina, a session composed of men from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Barbados, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and St. Vincent.

This group is no different from other weekend warriors who play pickup soccer or basketball around the country. Everyone has a nickname, and every nickname a backstory. Trinidadians “St. Mary” and “St. Ann” are both named for their hometowns; “Tall Man” (a 6-foot-6 forward who is never without his trusted knee brace); “Short Man” (stands generously at 5-foot-6 but plays much bigger); “Michelin” (named for his ample waistline); and “Buttahs,” whose name likely has something to do with his style of play — he’s smooth.

The Trinidad and Tobago contingent — or “massive,” in island-speak — is having a ball as the game unfolds. They are, without a doubt, the ringleaders of this pack.

The talk of the Sunday kick-around was ESPN FC soccer analyst Shaka Hislop and his comments after his native Trinidad and Tobago beat the U.S. men’s national team 2-1 on Oct. 10, killing the Yanks’ quest to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Hislop spent his 15-year professional career as a goalkeeper in the top division in England, manning net for Newcastle United, Reading, West Ham United and Portsmouth. “Trinidadians are happy people, man. We love the game, and we love to have a good time,” said Hislop, a self-described “proud Trinbagonian.”

The internet saw a glimpse of that pride after the “Soca Warriors” stunned the U.S. team.

Hislop, who led Howard University to the 1988 NCAA Final as a freshman starter, took umbrage to the Americans’ attitude heading into the game, from which they needed only a win or tie to qualify for the world’s biggest sports tournament.

“Not only is this the worst U.S. team I’ve seen, this is the most arrogant U.S. national team I’ve seen for the last 20 years, and that’s not just down to the players — that is down to everybody from U.S. Soccer through the media that comes through the coach and onto the players,” Hislop ranted as his fellow ESPN FC analysts looked on, awed by his passion. “The message it sent to me is that, ‘Here we are, U.S. Soccer, in this little backwater nation, having to play to qualify.’ ”

Hislop had been seething long before the start of the World Cup qualifier. Two days before the match, Hislop watched other World Cup qualifiers with ESPN colleagues just as social media chatter had started to build for the Trinidad and Tobago-U.S. matchup.

In September, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association moved the game from Hasely Crawford Stadium in the capital of Port of Spain to Ato Boldon Stadium in the small town of Couva. Heavy rain before the Oct. 10 game left the field soaked, and water had to be pumped off the surrounding running track.

“I was sitting there complaining from then, and then when I saw the official Twitter feed of the U.S. national team posting pictures of players carrying players across ankle-high water to make matters seem worse than they actually were, it really set me off,” said Hislop, his Trinidadian accent coming through and voice rising. “It added to how offended I felt. … I’m not saying that that was anybody’s intention, but I was already there.”

To be fair, nobody referred to the playing surface at Ato Boldon Stadium as a “little backwater nation,” but Hislop had seen and heard enough from the media leading up to the game that more than suggested that the Americans were looking past Trinidad and Tobago. The air of disrespect was pungent, Hislop said.

“I know that field,” Hislop told The Undefeated. “It’s slightly raised, with a running track around it. The water had settled onto the running track. I was, like, wait a minute, the same hurricanes that smashed Houston and Puerto Rico came right up through the Caribbean. I played in Europe on pitches just as bad. This is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago or the Caribbean. This is part of the game. I just felt the rhetoric was demeaning.”

There’s also well-documented history that should be part of the narrative on both sides. The U.S., in 1989, had ended Trinidad and Tobago’s hopes of reaching the 1990 World Cup. That wound still burns, particularly for the likes of Jack Warner, the Trinidadian former FIFA vice president and Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) president who was arrested by U.S. federal prosecutors on charges of bribery and fraud as part of the FIFA scandal that rocked the soccer world in 2015. Warner called the U.S. loss the “happiest day of my life.”

“It was totally avoidable, this loss for the Americans,” said Brian Anderson of the Charlotte Caribbean Football Club, a proud Trini who said Hislop’s analysis spoke for his country of 1.3 million. “They had an arrogance, an arrogance that said, ‘This game is a foregone conclusion.’ ”

Since that epic loss, U.S. Soccer has had an all-you-can-eat helping of humble pie. Team manager Bruce Arena has resigned, walking away in infamy as the man who failed to propel America past last-place Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for the World Cup, marking the first time since 1986 the Americans will not participate in futbol’s biggest party. Hislop admits to taking no personal comfort in Team USA’s loss. He also doesn’t believe U.S. Soccer should panic and start over from scratch.

“I don’t think it’s time to scrap everything and rebuild,” Hislop said. “What is needed are calm heads and a holistic look at what’s working and what isn’t. Look at the infrastructure for kids to play the game. Give kids every single opportunity to play and grow, from a young age.

“Figure out how we get kids from the inner cities to be part of the system; kids from the inner cities are being priced out of the game,” said Hislop, a father of five. “It’s not cheap. Figure out how U.S. Soccer and clubs can better partner with local high schools. Not every family can pick up and move their family to Germany as [U.S. national star] Christian Pulisic’s family did. That might be a realistic option [to groom the best talent] for some, but not for the vast majority.”

Hislop, a week after his rant broke Twitter, sounds more like himself now: calm, reserved, jovial.

“Yeah, man … that situation got to me. I got a lot of messages from people in Trinidad. I know [my points] resonated with people up and down the island.”

Added Anderson: “Shaka said his piece, man. He spoke for all of us.”
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Offline Tallman

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #49 on: February 15, 2018, 08:15:59 PM »
Ex-Newcastle and West Ham keeper Shaka Hislop goes from stopper to working for NASA and one of American TV’s most famous soccer pundits
By Russell Lanning (thesun.co.uk)


LIFE hasn’t been one small step for former keeper Shaka Hislop. It has been one giant leap!

For not many footballers can say they have worked for NASA and been part of a key project at the space station based in the American capital as part of his impressive CV.

The 48-year old is now living in Massachusetts with wife, Desha and five children, and talks proudly of his time at the NASA Headquarters in Washington DC.

He said: “I have a degree in mechanical engineering and worked at NASA.

“The Space Station project was spread over multiple sites but the DC office where I worked we oversaw the SS Endeavour.

“I only spent a couple of months working there for a summer internship between my third and fourth years but it was an enlightening experience.”

He added: “Six years ago I went back to school at the Alma Mater Howard University and I earned my Executive MBA in 2014.”

Today, the ex-keeper can be seen regularly on screen in the States in a similar role to Gary Neville and Thierry Henry on Sky Sports.

He added: “Since 2008 I started working with the US sports network ESPN doing colour commentary and appearing on their football show called Press Pass, which has since become ESPN FC.

Hislop was raised in Trinidad but was born in London.

Sport was high on the agenda in the Hislop household.

His father, George, was a long jump champion who went to law school and was a teacher while his grandfather on his mother Gina’s side represented the West Indies at cricket.

Bright-as-a-button Shaka had just graduated from university in mechanical engineering when he was spotted by a scout from Reading during a friendly when he was playing for Baltimore Blast in a friendly with Aston Villa.

He signed for Reading in 1992 and was a Royal for three years helping the club to promotion from the old Division Two in 1994.

In the summer of 1995, he joined Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle revolution in 1995 for £1.5m.

Around the same time he married his college sweetheart, Desha who hails from San Fernando in Trinidad.

They met in 1989. She also graduated in 1992 with a degree in marketing.

He added: “After leaving English football after 14 wonderful years at Reading, Newcastle, West Ham and Pompey 2006, I went on and played a year in MLS for Dallas. I finally quit the game the following year.”

Now his children have followed down the educational route in true Hislop tradition.

He said: “My eldest daughter, Maalana, just graduated from Queen Mary University – in London.

“My second eldest daughter, Khazia, is currently in her second year at University of North Carolina where she’s on a gymnastics scholarship.

“My youngest three kids all love playing football.

“My wife, Desha is involved as a realtor – real estate – here in Massachusetts.”

Hislop is also one of the great football trivia questions too.

The Hackney-born former keeper was on England’s subs bench against Chile in 1998 but then played AGAINST Three Lions in the World Cup finals in 2006!

He added: “Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago we didn’t have a professional league, so I never thought about playing professionally because it simply wasn’t an option.

“I ended playing professionally for 15 years and loved every moment of my time in England.

“I think I proved that with determination and dedication your background doesn’t have to hold you back. I have been on the most amazing journey.”
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Offline Tallman

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Shaka Hislop inducted into Reading FC’s Hall of Fame
« Reply #50 on: March 24, 2018, 02:57:59 PM »
Shaka Hislop inducted into Reading FC’s Hall of Fame
By Nigel Myers


Goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, who made 126 appearances for Reading FC between 1992 and 1995, was among 25 new inductees into Reading FC’s Hall of Fame on March 20th.

The Hall of Fame is run by the The Supporters Trust At Reading (STAR) and nomination is open to any individual that has played an exceptional or distinctive part in the life of the club. STAR hopes to induct about 150 individuals by 2022 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Reading FC’s first match which was played in 1872.

Shaka’s achievements at the club are summarized on STAR’s website as follows:

Reading career: 1992-95, Goalkeeper        126 appearances
Claim to fame: Arguably Reading’s best ever keeper and a crowd favourite.

Shaka Hislop proved to be one of Reading’s best ever goalkeepers in the short period he was with the club. He took the often lurid and multi-coloured jersey permanently from Steve Francis at the start of the 1993-94 season and played 110 consecutive matches, winning a Division Two champions medal and finishing as a Division One runner-up before moving to Newcastle for £1,565,000.

Though born in London, Shaka came from the unlikely source of US college football, where he had been a student of aeronautical engineering. He made his Reading debut in September 1992. Tall, long and loose-limbed, agile and cool under pressure Hislop was an instant hit with the Reading fans who frequently sang “Shaka, Shaka, what’s the score?” In his two seasons as the first choice keeper he let in less than a goal a game and was a vital component in Mark McGhee’s attractive team that won Division Two in style in 1993-94. The following season Shaka played even better at a higher level making scores of stupendous saves that kept Reading in games they might otherwise have lost. The Elm Park men finished second in the second tier of English football, the highest position the club had ever reached at that point in time. Unfortunately Reading lost a dramatic play-off final to Bolton at Wembley in what was Hislop’s last game for the club.

After a period with Newcastle Shaka went on to play for West Ham and Portsmouth. Towards the end of his career he represented Trinidad and Tobago in the World Cup Finals of 2006 and later became a well-known broadcaster for ESPN.
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Offline Flex

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #51 on: April 23, 2018, 03:21:25 AM »
Shaka donates boots to T&T Maestros.
T&T Newsday Reports.


Former Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper and current ESPN FC analyst, Shaka Hislop, surprised T&T Maestros with a visit on Saturday during a training session at the Laventille Community Complex.

Hislop has partnered with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to assist football clubs in the Morvant/Laventille area.

The 49 year old, who played at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, donated 30 pairs of football boots to T&T Maestros.

Sheldon De Freitas, coach of T&T Maestros, yesterday expressed gratitude to Hislop and his team for the generous donation and for inspiring his youngsters.

“Half of them did not have boots. He met some of them wearing sneakers to training so they were really in need,” De Freitas said.

“I feel it is commendable that a guy with that stature could make a gesture and come here when he doesn’t even live in Trinidad. It was a surprise visit with him and his brother Kona Hislop,” he continued.

The youth coach lamented that football icons who grew up right in their area have never done anything to assist. He said the young footballers were all delighted to get to interact with someone they look at on TV.

“They’re familiar with him from ESPN, so they were real excited to meet him. He told them to go for their dreams because it is not where you start but where you come from.’Once you have the ambition, you can make it’, he said, and he is a very good example. He said to focus on the academics as well as sport because it is necessary for contracts and in life,” De Freitas said.

Kona Hislop yesterday refused to take any credit for the benevolent gesture, praising Police for the work it is doing in the community.

Kona said his brother acquired donations of boots, uniforms and footballs from several clubs in North America and distributed it to several local clubs.

« Last Edit: April 23, 2018, 03:34:58 AM by Flex »
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Offline Deeks

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #52 on: April 23, 2018, 05:11:58 AM »
Niceness. Wow, is a long time I eh hear about Kona.

Offline Tallman

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Hislop sisters follow dad’s footsteps for Concord-Carlisle
« Reply #53 on: October 10, 2018, 02:39:01 AM »
Hislop sisters follow dad’s footsteps for Concord-Carlisle
By Ethan Schroeder (Boston Globe)


Out on the practice field one day last week, Shaka Hislop stood among the Concord-Carlisle goalkeepers.

A former keeper in the English Premier League, the 49-year-old Hislop worked specifically with the young players.

Then he took his turn at burying headers in a team-wide crossing exercise.

His daughters, Nia and Talia. also took part. Nia is a freshman striker at Concord-Carlisle. Talia is a senior captain in the midfield.

“It was really nice to have him there,” Nia Hislop said. “We’ve just always thought of him as ‘Dad.’ ”

In a 15-year professional career, the elder Hislop played for Reading, New Castle, West Ham, and Portsmouth. In two of three seasons with Newcastle, the club finished second in the Premier League. Internationally, he started in net for Trinidad & Tobago in its 2006 World Cup group stage opener, the country’s first World Cup contest.

Nia and Talia have a defined soccer pedigree. As the two flourish in the midst of an 8-0-1 start for the No. 11 Patriots, Shaka is content in the role of spectating father.

His playing days ended after a year with Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas in 2007. After being hired by ESPN as a soccer analyst, he and his wife, Desha , moved their five children to the Northeast.

A decade later, his two youngest girls, Talia and Nia, are helping engineer Concord-Carlisle’s best start in the six-year tenure of coach Peter Fischelis.

On Monday, C-C earned a 1-1 tie against top-ranked Newton South, currently ranked third in the Northeast United States by topdrawersoccer.com.

Nia jas stepped in as a freshman and leads the Patriots in scoring (seven goals and one assist in nine games).

“The first thing you notice is her speed, but she’s also able to go toe-to-toe with big, strong backs,” Fischelis said. .

Shaka Hislop said Nia’s quick start has been helped by having her sister nearby.

“Having a sister around has helped her settle in and express herself in a way that maybe other freshmen could not,” the elder Hislop said.

As a 6-foot-2-inch midfielder, Talia is hard to miss on the field. She is playing again after undergoing three knee surgeries in two seasons that prevented her from completing a full varsity season for Concord-Carlisle.

Hislop was cleared for soccer activities less than two weeks before the 2018 regular season began.

“I’m not sure if she credits that determination to her mom or her dad,” said Shaka with a laugh. “It’s been a tough couple of years for her, but when she gets into a rhythm it’s something else.”

Outside of the occasional practice visit, Shaka prefers to let his daughters journey through the sport on their own devices.

“My parents didn’t play soccer at all back in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “I played soccer because I loved it, and I loved playing with my friends. I want them to have that same path, if they choose.”

But, as Talia explained, outsiders can be quick to lump the two in their dad’s shadow.

“It was normal for us growing up,” she said. “We’ve taken it in stride because it’s always been our normal.”

Added Nia, “It’s nice to have someone who’s played professionally and can give us pointers in the moment. If anything, what he’s done is good motivation for us.”

Shaka keeps the pointers to a minimum, opting to watch quietly from the stands. He can see how their attitudes off the field serve them well while on it, and sees little reason to offer his opinion unless directly asked.

“Nia is determined and focused in general, so it doesn’t surprise me to see it in her game,” he said. “And Talia’s a little more quiet and cerebral, so she can sit back and analyze. The last thing any high school kid needs is a dad shouting and inserting himself.

“I want them to enjoy soccer as much as they do now, but also challenge themselves, and recognize the fulfillment in that challenge.”
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Offline Deeks

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #54 on: October 10, 2018, 10:34:57 PM »
Shaka eh encourage none of his daughters to go to his alma mater? Howard

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #55 on: October 10, 2018, 11:09:34 PM »
Shaka eh encourage none of his daughters to go to his alma mater? Howard

Concord-Carlisle is a high school.

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #56 on: December 11, 2019, 04:51:25 PM »
WATCH: Shaka Hislop discusses a range of topics including his days in a CIC shirt, coming off the bench in the victory over Mexico in the 2006 World Cup Qualifier, Leo Beenhakker, Harry Redknapp and the similarities between Steven Gerrard and the stadium announcer.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/pNa9yx_BpJ0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/pNa9yx_BpJ0</a>
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Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #57 on: December 11, 2019, 08:13:20 PM »
One of Shaka's comments goes to the different/unique burden placed on GKs. Beenhakker regarded Shaka's attempts to lighten the mood as a [potential] liability. However, he didn't seem to have a similar qualm about starting Sancho despite his levity.

Solid interview!

Offline Tallman

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Shaka Hislop: One on One
« Reply #58 on: January 23, 2020, 09:39:02 PM »
Shaka Hislop: One on One
By Sheldon Waithe (Parkite Sports Magazine)


Shaka Hislop played for some of the biggest clubs in English football before taking his seat in the ESPN studio as a football analyst. A university graduate before embarking on a professional career, he has been outspoken on a number of issues including the treatment of T&T’s 2006 World Cup squad. Sheldon Waithe chats with him about his career, the Soca Warriors, VAR, and his picks for the 2019-20 season.

“I never felt comfortable between the posts; I’m really a striker … goalkeeping was just a temporary gig!” Neil Shaka Hislop insists that his first love was being an outfield player. But as temporary jobs go, his goalkeeping stint didn’t do too badly.

He has a slight limp from his last outing on the pitch – not in goal of course – and immediately warns of his capacity to speak ad infinitum, a trait he now draws on as a beloved pundit on ESPN. “I can real talk; everything with me has a back story.” And he is refreshingly open: “Ask me anything.”
 
Full football spectrum

The self-proclaimed “reluctant role model” has done the full player spectrum: from College soccer in the US while he earned his degree, to promotion from the English Division 2, chasing the Premiership title in a memorable dogfight with Manchester United, an FA Cup final appearance, promotion to the Premiership from Division 1 and, to cap it all off, goalkeeping for his nation at the World Cup.

He was at the forefront of the T&T players’ battle for proper payment after that World Cup, and is on FIFA’s technical committee. He launched “Show Racism The Red Card” in the UK, a topic that has sadly become headline news once again across the football landscape.

It’s little wonder that he has a lot to tell.

Football or NASA?

Shaka’s height dictated that he was put in goal for T&T’s first national under-12 squad, to play against Venezuela. It was a squad bursting with talent, with the likes of Russell Latapy and Brian Lara, and was his first contact with coach Bertille St Clair.

Secondary school football was followed by a scholarship to Howard University and a budding internship with NASA. But there was an offer from Reading FC across the Atlantic, so a choice had to be made. “My mentor at NASA said ‘Give it a go, you don’t want to be an engineer wondering what if?’ So I gave it a go … and it worked out.”
 
So began his path towards the top flight. “I had a nice progression. Reading was in the bottom half of the 2nd Division, not a lot of expectation, but even so I struggled in my first year. I stand by this: I signed a two-year contract, and if I hadn’t, I would not have gone back after the first year.” But reluctance turned to joy as he flourished, playing every match, and Reading were promoted. “That changed everything for me.”

The top flight

Kevin Keegan came calling and suddenly Shaka was part of a crack Newcastle United squad that were on course for the EPL title. As before, he took some time to acclimatise. “I struggled to settle, it was a big step up, and all of a sudden there was expectation. When ManU pegged us back in that 95-96 season, I didn’t deal with that well emotionally.”

Then came perspective. “In my second season at Newcastle my eldest daughter was hospitalised; I was going from training or the game to the hospital. Again, it changed everything. All of a sudden I realised what was important.” For a player coping with the pressures of weekly matches, fans and media, “Home became my safe place where I could put everything away. Similarly, I could dislodge myself from issues at home and focus on the match.”

This leads to the subject of blocking out the crowd, chants, and coping with nerves. The goalkeeper’s position is somewhat isolated, leaving them more open to anxiety. “I remember talking to my dad about it, and he said, ‘You have to be able to challenge your nervous energy’, there’s nothing wrong with being nervous. I also started chewing gum, I found it would help.”

Within the tribalism of various clubs across the breadth of England, he was adored. Chants claimed him as one of their own, ringing out “Shaka’s a Geordie!” or “Shaka The Hammer!”. “Whoever I played with, I tried to make myself a part of their community, and that is what started Show Racism The Red Card. It was my way of giving back; these people pay money to come and see me play, so I felt I owed them a debt.”

Raheem Sterling, spearheading the current football anti-racism campaign, harks back to Hislop’s pioneering role in tackling the issue. What is Shaka’s solution? “Banning a club will never erase what is the underlying problem, which is racism in society. I don’t feel that the authorities have been innovative enough in their approach to the problem.

“What I would like to see happen is, say, a fine of $500,000 for a club found guilty; that’s an extortionate amount of money, but if you then say that you’ll suspend $400,000 if the club spends $150K on an educational programme trying to address the issue within their fanbase, that would work a whole lot better that just increasing fines.”

2006 World Cup

The pinnacle of Shaka’s playing career came in 2006 at Germany’s World Cup, but he believes that T&T was better placed to qualify in 2002. “The team was good but Jack [Warner] didn’t like [T&T coach] Bertille [St Clair] because Bertille was so outspoken. So he sent an ultimatum to Bertille that if he didn’t win the 2000 Gold Cup, he’s getting sacked. Ridiculous! Keep in mind that that 2000 semi-final appearance is still our best showing at a Gold Cup, and we lost on penalties. So he sacks Bertille, and that was the unravelling of that team.”

Four years later the quality still shone through, and the Soca Warriors qualified. Not playing at his best for West Ham, Shaka accepted his lack of form, up to a point. He was not the first choice of coach Leo Beenhakker, with whom he had “an exchange” in the days before the first match, and he was not in the best frame of mind. “I was angry, and I don’t play football angry. Then I made my mind up that I never thought that I would see a T&T team play at a World Cup, so I’m going into this with the position that I’m a fan with a great seat.”

Now relaxed, he awoke on match day and “ate one set of food, was kicking shots at [goalkeeper Clayton] Ince and thought, ‘I’m enjoying my day, yes’. Next thing Kelvin Jack [the first choice keeper] walks past and says ‘I can’t make’. It took a little while to register, then I saw him talking to Beenhakker; I stood up staring at him, staring at Leo and thinking ‘Leave me out at your peril!’ Our eyes met, he called me over and said, ‘You ready for this?’ I was like ‘Yes’. So that was it.”

Shaka was outstanding. It was his best performance for T&T, as he kept a clean sheet and Sweden at bay, an integral part of T&T defying the odds in one of its most memorable sporting performances.

Equally astounding was the team’s next outing versus England, where they held out for 83 minutes and gave as good as they got. There was something special in that dressing room. “Tactically Beenhakker got it right. We had Dwight [Yorke] sitting in between the two centre halves and at times stepping up, and a lot of what we did – how defensive or how attacking we were – was dictated by Dwight. He has an incredible football intellect, and at that World Cup it was on full display.”

Fight for justice

The post-tournament euphoria did not last long. The T&T players were offered approximately TT$5,000 each as their bonus for playing in the world’s biggest tournament. With his forthright attitude and acute sense of justice, Shaka led from the front in the fight for their just reward.

“Before the Bahrain game the senior players got together to decide what we were going to ask for as a deal. I thought if we got 10% of the commercial revenues, then we did well. Others wanted 30%, which I thought was crazy. I was outnumbered and I nearly died when Jack Warner agreed to the 30%.
 
“After the tournament we kept chasing the spreadsheet of the revenue earned, and when we finally got it we thought either they’re lying or they’ve got the worst marketing department, if those are the kind of numbers they’re claiming they’ve earned. So we said ‘We’ll see you in court.’”

The protracted affair was not settled until 2013. “Not everyone was up for the fight, but I was getting ready to retire so had nothing to lose. When we eventually got the correct information and saw the numbers, we were like ‘What the …?’ We had no idea, no idea. Early in the discussions we suggested paying everyone TT$250,000 each and we’ll walk away, but then when we saw those figures, we were like ‘Nah!’”

Eventually they settled on a figure that they felt was appropriate. “My point is, if you made an agreement with the players, then honour it, and if you can’t then let’s negotiate: but you can’t bully the players into taking a figure that you want.”

Future of Caribbean sport

The country was not able to build on that World Cup appearance, but while most blamed the local governing body, Hislop believes that it extends further. “The CFU (Caribbean Football Union) position is around wielding power rather than developing the game. The fact that Caribbean nations have no regular league or exchange is testament to that. It’s the reason that no one from the Caribbean has come close to qualifying since.”

On the ESPN panel of football pundits, and with an expanding role at the Olympics and Pan Am Games, Shaka is well placed to comment on the overall development of sport in the region. “I think Caribbean sport is potentially the most exciting to cover, just because of who we are culturally and how much fun we have around our sport.

“I also feel that there is an inherent misunderstanding of the media’s role in sport. People feel that the media are just here to throw money at sport and buy rights, and they will use that money to grow the sport, putting the cart before the horse. In reality it’s the total opposite. Companies don’t come in until those sports are viable. Unless you’re NFL, EPL or Wimbledon, people largely pay to be on the media platforms because that allows them to get money from sponsors. We need to improve the quality of the product in every regard and then attract media and sponsors.”
 
The Shaka Hislop story deserves to be told more often, for new generations to appreciate the aspects & rewards of hard work, the importance of balancing education with sport, a strong sense of right and wrong, and the willingness to fight for what you believe is right. To never lose sight of your core values regardless of the station you attain, to recognise the worth of giving back to the community, to draw on those principles from a strong family base and – if you’ve seen him on ESPN – to have fun along the way.

“I remember saying once that I’m a reluctant role model, and my wife saying ‘You can’t say that’. I accept that I’m a role model, given what I’ve achieved, but that’s not why I do it. It was never part of my motivation. I will do what I can when I can; if people reach out to me I will always support as best I can.”

He is correct, he can definitely talk; but when Shaka speaks, it’s always worth listening.

Shaka talks VAR

The introduction of the Video Assisted Referee (VAR) system into football has been contentious, to say the least! As a member of FIFA’s International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that determines the laws of the game, we wanted Shaka’s view.

“I love it. Let me say that I also think the criticisms are reflective of how resistant to change we are. The game is getting so fast and officiating errors have become so costly, a wrong decision can cost a club millions of dollars. So there was a need for the introduction of technology.

“I didn’t understand why the Bundesliga and others jumped on it as quickly as they did: let some of the smaller leagues use it first, let the MLS use it, figure out the kinks, etc. But then, come the World Cup 2018, it worked really well.

“I think it works well in a shorter tournament. In a longer league format the standard position was if a referee made a wrong decision it would come out in the wash; at some point you are going to be the beneficiary of a mistake, it balances itself out. As the protocols become clearer, not just for the players and fans but for the referees, I think it will get better. I think football deserves the right decision, not just the quick decision.”

Taking quickfire shots at Shaka

Your favourite football team?
West Ham.

Favourite sport outside of football?
Golf. No, I’m not giving you my handicap! I enjoy the camaraderie; the score is just to decide who buys the drinks.

We saw you and Usain Bolt together for a promotion recently, who was stronger?
Who was stronger?

Well, we know who is faster.
That’s only because I pulled my hamstring. Hahaha. Nah, he’s strong.

The one ex-player you would have liked in your dressing room?
Zidane.

The one defender that you would have in front of you?
[Giorgio] Chiellini.

The best striker that you have faced?
Alan Shearer.

Your favourite save that you made?
West Ham at home to Aston Villa, we drew nil-nil. Lee Hendry came inside the box, shot one, and I was able to parry it: but it then fell for Paul Merson, and he was tapping into what he thought was an empty goal. I somehow got back and tipped it around the post.

Who’s winning this season’s Champions League?
I’ll go for Atletico Madrid.

Euro 2020?
Belgium.

EPL?
Liverpool.

La Liga?
I’m torn between Atletico and Barcelona, but I’m going to go with Barcelona.

Serie A?
Juventus.

And the next ESPN FC debate?
Me, of course!
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Tallman

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Re: Shaka Hislop Thread.
« Reply #59 on: June 10, 2020, 02:57:17 PM »
WATCH: Former West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, who's an honorary president of Show Racism the Red Card, thinks the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests could have a major impact.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/hNc_5l2oaN8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/hNc_5l2oaN8</a>
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

 

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