Joe Public urge youths to aim for the sky
ttproleague.comMacoya based TT Pro League club Bmobile Joe Public ended its second edition of GIB(Giving it Back) project on Tuesday at the Marvin Lee Stadium and in the club’s message to young participants, general manager San Phillip urged kids to aim for the sky.
“You must aim for the sky, and even if you fall short of that… I’m sure you will fall among the stars,” said Phillip. “…because everyone is a star in their own way.”
Phillip labeled the kids, “jewels of the nation” and thanked the principals, teachers, and the Joe Public coaches and staff for helping in the club’s second edition of (GIB)Giving It Back project January - June 2011 as part of the TT Pro League HOPE(Helping Others is a Priority Everyday) initiative.
Joe Public head coach Rajesh Latchoo headed a coaching staff which included Super League team coach Dale Saunders, U17 and U15 coach John Henry, U13 coach Ian Antione and senior team players that took to neighbouring schools Tacarigua Anglican, Tunapuna RC Boys, El Dorado Indo North, El Dorado Indo South, Five Rivers Indo and Tacarigua Presbyterian to educate kids, mostly under the age of 10, on the fundamentals of the game and it proved a success when the kids showcased their latent during a mini-tournament at the closing ceremony.
Joe Public had a major hiccup though, explained by Phillip. It was revealed that a number of schools dropped out of the project because of the Ministry of Education’s stance against extracurricular activities during school hours in recent months.
And only Tacarigua Anglican and Tunapuna RC Boys continued for the full duration of the project and were present in Tuesday’s mini-tournament and closing ceremony.
Phillip praised Joe Public team manager Joseph Romeo for a “tremendous job” in coordinating the project despite the challenges faced by the club.
“You have had some of the best coaches in the country impart their knowledge to you… you have had some of the best players in Trinidad and Tobago to date, who are also present with you all today.
“And in my humble opinion, after academic, sport is the best thing and we at Joe Public wants to blend both. It must be balanced. If you are educated and didn’t play a sport… it’s not so healthy. And if you are a good sportsman or sportswoman and you don’t have an educational background… that is also not healthy. But we at Joe Public are urging the schools and every other sporting facility, to have a balance, where you will have education and sport,” Phillip continued in his speech to the students.
He reminded the participating kids that sport has opened opportunities for young people, even in the universities but they must not just rely on the coaches and teachers, and instead must want to do it for themselves.
And his speech was concluded by warning the kids, “And let a bullet, only be the bullet when you shoot the ball at goal and not that of a gun. Let sport be your gun, let your education be your gun.”
Present at Tuesday’s closing ceremony and mini-tournament—which was eventually won by Tunapuna RC(A)—where Joe Public senior team players Marvin Phillip, Carlyle Mitchell, Keion Goodridge, Kareem Young, Marcus Joseph, Aubrey David, Micah Lewis and Kenaz Williams among others.
