Sidebar

28
Thu, Mar

Hart: Mistakes are the true mother of learning.
Typography

Stephen Hart, the ex T&T football coach has challenged students who participated at the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) last year, to educate themselves by learning to think situations out for their benefit.

Preceding that Kedie Johnson of St. Augustine Secondary School and Tyrell Emmanuel of Shiva Boys Hindu College, were adjudged as the Secondary School’s Football League - 2016 Players of the Year 2016. The duo during yesterday’s SSFL annual awards ceremony.

However, Hart in a sterling feature speech at the ceremony, reminded the young budding footballers and future professionals that they are the only ones to make them better. He urged them to decide how they can get the edge in their profession of choice, and how they can polish their strengths, and attack their weaknesses.

Using a quote from famous German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, Hart, who also travelled the road as a young footballer before his entry into football as a coach, said, “Education is not the learning of fact but rather the training of the mind to think.”

He explained that education is all around them, pointing to the sport of football which he said is filled with rich education. “There is cultural diversity education in it. It has science in it, now more than ever- the mechanics of the body and what you can do with humans who play the game?. It has physics in it. If you want to know how to bend a ball and how to strike it properly, believe it or not it has physics in it. And most of all the sport is a thinkers’ game,” Hart said.

He added, “It is not a game about muscle. Muscle does not think, the brain tells muscle what to do.” He told the large gathering of students, teachers, coaches and supporters that he only learnt a few things after his graduation from university, which was to gather information, process it, which he described as the difficult part because of the amount of misinformation out there, and how to reproduce it for the benefit and delivery of what he had to do.

He credited his mentor, Hungarian Roman Nayabecky, a well educated lover of the game of football, for encouraging him to take coaching courses, absorb what he liked and discard what he did not. He said it was Nayabecky who told him to create his own unique style and quality to the game, which has stayed with him for the rest of his life.

This education Hart brought to T&T football three years ago and managed to stabilise the game in the midst of turmoil and controversy, saying as a coach he has learnt that it requires influencing behaviours.

Though he was sacked as national coach, Hart who has guided the Soca Warriors to the Final round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, encouraged the young footballers to be not afraid of making mistakes, saying ‘Mistakes are the true mother of learning as it will only make you stronger and better.’

“A person who never made a mistake, has never tried anything new,” Hart told the young players and in giving them some tips on how to be successful he urged them to write their goals down and pin it up so that they can see it every morning, seek out a mentor and listen more and talk less.

RELATED NEWS

Hart urges youths to keep striving at SSFL award ceremony.
T&T Newsday Reports.


STEPHEN HART enlightened this country’s next generation of footballers at the Secondary School’s Football League (SSFL) award ceremony held yesterday, at the National Cycling Centre in Couva, as he delivered the feature speech at the function.

While admitting that public speaking is not his forte as he is quite more comfortable talking on the field, Hart expressed his honour to address the talented youngsters as he encouraged them to always be mentally focused and have the discipline it takes to strive for more and make a positive name for oneself.

Hart made reference to a lesson his coaching mentor taught him as he gave advice to the players by stating, “Write everything down and absorb what you like, discard what you do not like but most importantly, add what is uniquely your own by bringing your own quality.” Hart reminded the athletes that coaching is only the influencing of behaviour and they (the athletes) have to be the ones to go out there on the field and do the job.

While relaying this message, he encouraged them to always be curious as to how they can develop themselves to become better, how to develop a dynamic or create a cutting edge to enhance and grow as a player, as well as understanding how does each individual training session impacts on performances produced on the field.

Hart motivated the athletes in attendance, of various schools throughout Trinidad, as he stressed, “Keep polishing your strengths because coaches like players for what they can do but always remember to approach your weaknesses in the same manner you attack the opposition on the field.

Remember only you can make you better!” Shiva Boys’ dominated the 2016 all-star team in the male category as Fyzabad also made their presence known in the female division of the SSFL as they both had the most players of all schools in representation amongst the best players of the season.

Six “Shiva” players managed to impose themselves into the team as they had a player from every position in the team which consisted of their goalkeeper, defender, three midfielders and striker. Three of their players also made it into the “top five best players” along with their midfield maestro Tyrell Emmanuel copping the Player of the Year award.

“Fyzo” also featured a player from each position as they filled five spots in the all-star female team and produced two of the “top five best players” at this year’s ceremony.

Kedie Johnson of St Augustine Secondary won the female Player of the Year award.

Honours were shared amongst the athletes in attendance as SSFL distributed awards across the different divisions of their programme.

At the championship division, each zonal champions won a total of $3,000 for their school, while Carapichaima won the “Big 5” Shell Trophy along with adding an extra $5,000 to their account.

In a similar manner in the female category, the FCB trophy was captured by St. Augustine Secondary as they added $4,000 to their $3,000 as each zonal champion received the cash for winning their respective zone.

Coca-Cola Intercol Champions San Juan North Secondary and Premier Division Champions Shiva Boys College both won $8000 and $23,000 for claiming their respective titles. However, Naparima College came away the largest winner on the day as they won the Digicel Play Cup and pocketed a total of $30,000 for becoming champions. Presentation College San Fernando, who lost to naps in the finals,received $10,000 for their second place finish.

List of SSFL Top 5 best players in 2016:

Female: Top 5 - Kedie Johnson (St Augustine Secondary), Shaunalee Govia (Tranquillity Secondary) Malak Marcelle (Diego Martin Central), Collette Morgan, Denecia Prince (Fyzabad Secondary).

Player of the Year – Kedie Johnson (St Augustine Secondary)

Male: Top 5 – Isaiah Lee (Naparima College), Kyle Thomas (San Juan North Sec.), Quinn Rodney, Junior Asson and Tyrell Emmanuel (Shiva Boys Hindu College)

Player of the Year – Tyrell Emmanuel (Shiva Boys Hindu College).

Next SSFL Matches