Shaka, the dignified Warrior.
By: Inshan Mohammed.
Former Trinidad and Tobago national goalkeeper Neil Shaka Hislop took the time off his busy ESPN duties to chat with the Soca Warriors Online (SWO) about his experiences representing Trinidad and Tobago and his overall career.
He is now working for sports news and broadcasting service network ESPN and regularly provides commentary on Serie A and Spanish La Liga matches.
At first it was a bit hard for him to settle in with ESPN as his family was living in Dallas, Texas, and his full-time job with ESPN was based in Connecticut, thousands of miles away.
So the former T&T keeper rented an apartment and while waiting on his home in Dallas to be sold he decided to utilize his spare time and used it wisely and so, he accepted the job to be the volunteer goalkeeping coach at Quinnipiac University also located in Connecticut.
His responsibilities at the University also included assisting with defensive assignments and working closely with Freddie Hall who was both the starting goalkeeper for the University and the Bermuda National team. Shaka is no longer with Quinnipiac and is now based in Massachusetts where he does not have the time needed to carry on his duties at the University.
The former FC Dallas player/goalkeeper coach holds an English FA Goalkeeper’s ‘B’ License and a UEFA ‘B’ License. Along with his stint at FC Dallas, he played professionally for West Ham United FC (1998-2002 and 2005-06), Portsmouth FC (2002-05), Newcastle United FC (1995-98) and Reading FC (1992-95).
He was named the Player of the Year and First Division Goalkeeper of the Year in 1995 with Reading before being transferred to Newcastle the following season, for a then record £1.5 million.
Hislop was born in Hackney, England while his father studied law. He moved to Diego Martin, Trinidad with his family at the age of two.
While in T&T Hislop graduated from St. Mary's College and had such a successful run on the school team that he earned a scholarship to play college soccer at Howard University in the United States. Shaka led his team to the NCAA Final as a freshman starter.
He graduated from Howard with honors with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. During this time, he interned at NASA.
A dispute with the T&T national team ruled him out of contention for several years, but he returned to play and starred in the country's first ever World Cup appearance in 2006.
No one could forget his man-of-the-match performance he gave against Sweden in a deadlock 0-0 game to insure T&T its only point in the competition.
Now many questions were recently raised on the SWO discussion forum about Shaka's commitment to T&T and other related issues concerning T&T football; where some supporters needed closure regarding his T&T commitment, among other things.
Shaka told the SWO, "As you can imagine there's no short answer to any of your questions, but I appreciate the need to clear a few misconceptions up. So I'll be as revealing as I can in trying to keep my answers at a manageable length, added Hislop".
Here are the 5 questions asked.
1. You are in the T&T Press every week it seems asking for new blood (if so to speak) as far as the TTFF is concern. We would like to know if you would be interested in challenging the TTFF, more so Jack Warner for his post. We believe former players like you, Kelvin Jack and Brent Sancho can make a formidable new board.
SH: - Firstly, I am only in the press when someone asks my opinion on a given topic.
I don't actively go seeking an opportunity to express an opinion for any particular reason. Aside from the fact that- that is what I do for a living anyway.
Anyway, to effectively run T&T football you need to have a presence on the ground. My experience with FPATT taught me as much. I was ready to move to T&T after retiring in '07 before the opportunity with ESPN presented itself. Had I done so, maybe things would be different.
As it is I have a wife and 5 children who I have to think of before myself. To drop my responsibilities here to both ESPN and more importantly my family in an unknown pursuit of an ideal, albeit a very dear one, is somewhere between unreasonable and ludicrous. My wife is a home-maker, and I the provider. The day that my kids no longer need me to provide for them I may be able to chase some of those ideals.
The call for new faces is in keeping with the reasons behind the US President only being able to serve two terms. New faces bring new ideas and renewed optimism. There are a lot of very bright and honorable people within T&T who are more than capable of breathing new life into T&T football. People like Brent Sancho and Kelvin Jack, like Dexter Skeene, Leslie Fitzpatrick, Dion LaFoucade, Clayton Morris and in particular (for me anyway) Angus Eve, who have been marginalized. I firmly believe that Angus has a very big role to play in the future of T&T football.
2. Why did you choose England over T&T at one time in your career and only decided to play for T&T when you were up in age and your chance to play for England had passed?
SH: - I was in the Senior Team and on the bench in 1990 for the Shell Cup when the tournament was cut short by the attempted coup.
The T&T team threatened to strike immediately before that tournament. To avoid the strike a lot of promises were made to the team by the TTFA (as they were then), and all were broken. I vowed that- that would be the last time promises to me or any team I was in would be simply ignored.
I hadn't heard from the national selectors again until 1992 when I was at Reading FC. I was asked what it would take to bring me back home, I replied, "every local player to be put on signed contracts". That was the last I heard from them till current TTFF president Oliver Camps came to see me at Elm Park two years later.
I was on the verge of a big move, if the press at the time were to be believed. I explained as much to Mr. Camps and the need for me to maintain my English status until then (at that time, in the pre-Bosman and EU era, your nationality in footballing terms was dependent on the country you represented). He seemed to understand. Two weeks later I got a letter from FIFA threatening suspension unless I declared my national status with immediate effect.
Late 1997 I spoke with Dwight Yorke about approaching the TTFF about ending our stand-off. The team was about to take part in the Gold Cup right about then. I was told that there wasn't a place in the team for me. Early 1998 Glen Hoddle named me in his England 'B' team.
I was out of contract that summer and it was a perfect opportunity for me to get myself back in the shop window and hopefully raise my stock. I was on the bench for the full team in a friendly versus Chile and played as an over-aged player for the England under-21's under Hoddle.
Early 1999 Bertille St. Clair, my first ever coach for a junior national team, took charge of the senior team and promptly invited me back. I gladly accepted. My first game was the friendly versus Jamaica at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in March which T&T prevailed 2-0.
The '98-99 season was easily my best in English football. Only David Seaman had kept more clean sheets than me that year. Unsurprisingly my former manager, Kevin Keegan, who was now the England manager, invited me to join the England squad that summer with the Euro 2000 qualifiers in full swing. I politely declined. The rest as they say is history...
3. Have you ever played for a T&T National Youth Team.
SH - I represented T&T at Under 11, Under 12 and Under 14 youth levels. At the time T&T had an U-11 team which Bertille St Clair was the coach of, myself, Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke were all on that team, I remember playing two games versus Venezuela in T&T which we lost. Furthermore, I was the starting goalkeeper for T&T U-12 team when we played in a tournament in Puerto Rico. At U-14, again, Yorke, Latapy and this time Brian Lara was my teammates on that team (can't remember much though).
I had trialed for, but didn't make the final cut for an Under 16 (I think it was) team under Isa Mohammed. That was the only exception. At 18, I left for the U.S to fulfilled my career and studies at Howard University and then returned to T&T to play with the senior team in the Shell Cup.
Furthermore, to clear up another piece of misinformation, I only ever remember not making one squad as mentioned. I almost never played (I certainly can't remember ever playing) as I was always second or third choice behind Ross Russell, Tony Clarke and at times Clem Elder.
And favoritism wasn't an issue at all, Tony Clarke earned his starting place on the T&T youth team. Both him and Ross Russell were by far the best two keepers we had at the time, by far. I have a lot of respect for Ross Russell, he was by far the best keeper in T&T at the time.
4. You said in a recent article on the T&T Express that T&T is not ready for Brazil. Many asked if T&T ready for Germany. Furthermore, you seemed surprised that the TTFF is always on the same cycle every world cup, a quick fix if so to speak. They wait forever to prepare teams and then throw everything in the last minute and when teams fail they play the blame game. If you where part of the administration what would you have done differently.
SH: - In all honesty probably no, we weren't ready for Germany. The point I've been trying to make is that we are too hit and miss with our approach. Every 16 years we come close, '73, '89 then 2006, but I feel to be more consistent we need to do more than just focus every 4 years on the senior team.
More should be done to incorporate and properly prepare the younger upcoming players for not just the rigors of the game on the pitch, but for the temptations off it. Losing players as gifted as Kerwin Jemmott is an absolute travesty that a country as small as ours cannot afford.
5. And finally, regarding the court case, after you guys win, do you have any plans to contribute to the game locally.
SH: - How I contribute to the game in T&T is dependent on what opportunities are afforded to me. I have little say in that. I will continue to do whatever I can from here, but again, and I maintain, to be truly effective in achieving for T&T football takes a full-time and committed presence on the ground. It is not a part-time job.
Shaka Hislop’s awards (excerpts from Wikipedia).
• In April 2005, Hislop was named the inaugural winner of the PFA Special Merit Award for his services to football. He has been a pioneer of football's 'Show Racism The Red Card' Campaign. He was also inducted into Howard University's Athletic Hall of Fame, only the fifth Association Football player to be so honoured.
• Following the Trinidad and Tobago national team's inspirational performance in the World Cup, Hislop and his team-mates were awarded the Chaconia Medal in gold, the second highest national award for Trinidad and Tobago. He is entitled to add the 'CM' suffix to his name as and when desired.
• In 2007, Hislop received the Alexander B. Chapman Award from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee for outstanding contribution to sport and the promotion of Olympic ideals. He is a member of the Professional Footballer’s Association’s Roll of Honor, joining Pele with the distinction of being the only two non-British members.
• On 10 July 2008, Hislop became the first member of the Trinidad and Tobago World Cup squad to be inducted into his country's Sporting Hall of Fame.
