Stephen Hart has a wish list.
“I want two games in June on the FIFA dates. (After which) I will give the players two or three days off, and then we go straight into Gold Cup preparation full-time.
Then we will go to the United States five days before we have to be in the hotel and I will like to play one game in the United States, an international,” said Hart, the senior men’s football team head coach.
Problem is, national team’s coach does not have the money to pay for it—nor should he. Hart already set a standard two years ago, when just one month into the job, the T&T-born former Canada national team coach lead the Soca Warriors to its second-best ever finish at the Gold Cup, a quarter-final berth, before going down 1-0 to Mexico.
With the region’s top international football competition rolling around again in July, and now two years on the job, Hart seeks a similar, if not better result, reflecting the pragmatic idealogy that saw him graduate through the development ranks of Canada to become its national coach.
However, Hart has learned to be patient in his two years in Trinidad and Tobago, where big business typically hesitate to donate small change, except when sure success looms around the corner—like World Cup qualification. And Government also wait until a national women’s team is a few steps away from playing in a World Cup to give them the financial support necessary for success.
Hart is philosophical, hopeful rather than demanding. But he knows that to do well at the 2015 Gold Cup, T&T must be prepared, and early at that.
“Once the (Pro) League is finished, I would ideally like to have the players in camp, some sort of camp for a number of days at the end of May,” said Hart, stressing the importance of early preparation, even in a modern environment where clubs have greater reign over footballers than national coaches.
“I will like to play Panama again. I will like to play South American-styled teams,” Hart added.
“I always want us to play teams that are going to push us over the top.”
Hart contends that to be the best, one must compete against the best.
“Larry Homes was Muhammad Ali’s sparring partner, and he became world champion,” continued Hart. “You always have to push yourself. You cannot be afraid to lose games and you cannot be afraid to take risks.”
Hart has already begun preparations by exposing the local players, many untested, to an international against Panama, won 1-0 by the Central Americans last Friday. He has also brought in a full-time trainer, Tobias Ottley, to assess the fitness level of available players.
These players, once willing, will be put on a monitored, individual training schedule leading up to the time when the overseas contingent joins the rest of the team ahead of the Gold Cup.