It was a game of three thirds. Over the first two, the Ex-Nationals--the Strike Squad revisited—were two goals up on the Youth Training Centre (YTC) XI.
It was an afternoon of friendship and nostalgia at the YTC ground in Arouca Saturday last. The game between past national stars, most of whom were part of the "Strike Squad" that narrowly missed World Cup qualification in 1989, and a team of current YTC inmates was the brainchild of Strike Squad member Marlon Morris.
I had received a media invitation and decided to attend. It proved to be an occasion worth the trip east. Indeed, this was an occasion, not just a friendly match.
While familiar 1980s faces like Clayton Morris, Brian Williams, Marvin Faustin, Hutson Charles, Leonson Lewis and T&T Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene took to the field, there were some older men who also made the scene--bigger celebrities of an earlier time.
Warren Archibald, Steve David, Leroy De Leon, Bobby Sookram and Earl "Spiderman" Carter are names that may be just as familiar as John Smith and Jim Doe to today's teenagers and 20-year-olds. And even for those of us slightly older with some knowledge of these men, that knowledge has come through anecdotes and the reminiscences of fathers and uncles.
But invited by the day's MC, Wayne Cunningham, to mingle with the boys dressed in their institution brown outfits who were watching on, the old men obliged. By the end of the afternoon, some of those boys might have boosted their knowledge of local football history. However, in some way, all of them—players and spectators—would have been touched by this effort to reach out.
"When they leave here, if they can get cumulative interventions from us and other people from the community, positive role models, hopefully they will change their lives... While we can't solve crime, endeavours and initiatives like this would kind of raise the consciousness and keep that issue alive," Morris told me.
A volunteer motivational speaker at YTC, he said further: "A lot of these kids here, if you look at their background and their home, most of them don't have positive role models, particularly male role models. And with us being here, talking to them, and they seeing successful individuals, we're hoping that this will go a long way in changing their lives."
Saturday's was a concerted effort to reach hearts. Sport Minister Anil Roberts attended and urged the boys to look past their mistakes and move forward. National cricket captain Daren Ganga did the same. Prisons commissioner John Rougier and former Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies cricketer Larry Gomes met the teams.
Serious crime, not merely petty theft, would have got some of these young men into this place. But, at least for the afternoon, confinement was good. It was for me.
Here is some of what I learned.
"All Haitians around that time (1973), they still have Archibald as a god in Haiti. As far as they are concerned, he is the best player in the world after Pele—Haitian people. We can't recognise that?" 'Spiderman' Carter asks rhetorically.
Archibald was a principal player in that now infamous match in Port au Prince in which T&T scored five goals in a crucial World Cup qualifier for Germany 1974 but had three disallowed and lost 2-1.
I remember the Spiderman from a newspaper photo of him in flight at the Queen's Park Oval in the 1970s. He was a spectacular shot stopper who was also in the Strike Squad during the qualifying campaign for Italia 1990.
His recollection of De Leon, another 1960s-70s hero, is also keen: "When you talking about magician, Latapy ent come close! Latapy beats you with change of direction, De Leon beats you with dribbling ability. De Leon shoots the ball 30-40 yards out. It was very difficult to see De Leon making a bad pass. When you talk about magic with the ball, it was him... He was something else."
In a gathering like Saturday's, such conversations were frequent. But along with those words came an underlying sentiment.
"We always care about this country. The problem we have always had is the administrators not thinking of how much of an important role we can play in society... At this present time, take myself. I'm no longer in Trinidad and Tobago, I am developing young players in America for America. I never wanted to leave these shores... We can make a positive contribution in this society. We should be role models going around the country and lecturing and coaching and teaching, helping to motivate young people. Many of our young people don't know of us today..."
At least De Leon will no longer have to make his living in Arizona, USA, where he had been coaching ever since he stopped playing. The Borough Corporation in his native Point Fortin recently made him their sports coordinator. But even he lamented the lack of use of past achievers.
I thought deeply about those conversations. The sentiments were understandable, mostly justified. But incorporating the know-how of the best sportsmen and women of the past into a system will take a bit of creativity. It will also require a system of development in the various disciplines to be functional. I'm not sure many sports here have such a system. Does football?
Watching the old Strike Squad crew do their thing, however, it brought back good memories. This bunch is a special group of sportsmen. They have found a way to still be relevant.
"We're passionate about football," Morris says. "We still feel we want to show people examples and how the game should be played... The other thing is discipline. We tend to be very disciplined... We want to be role models...for the youth of the country... One of the positive things that happened in the Strike Squad era was we had a sports psychologist, Shirley Rudd-Ottley. We had that motivational and psychological programme and I think in addition to us being together and teammates and working for one another and wanting to see soccer improve, it also taught us the importance of self-concept, positive thinking and giving back to the community, particularly giving back to the youth."
Speaking of the youth, the YTC XI responded positively to the on-field training. By the end of the third period, they had recovered from 0-2 down to level the score.
Dusk was arriving quickly. But all was bright at YTC.
"What Marlon has done here has really encouraged me to come out and when I come out and see all these senior guys who played before me, the spirit is overjoyed."
Nevick Denoon, winning Shell Caribbean Cup captain, 1989, and former Defence Force striker of the 70s-80s was bubbling.
"What he has done, he has ignited the spirit of Trinidad and Tobago football. That is the part of Trinidad football that is missing, the spirit of the game... We do not nourish and nurture that part of the game so when the chips fall, they fall where they may, and that is part of our problem... A youth must be able to see the love."
Saturday, I think they saw it.