NATIONAL coach Anton Corneal has to put on his thinking cap, I recommend, before he gets himself into a confrontation with the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL).
Listening to Atomic Anton and Whimsy Wim on the issue of our national Under-16 players, one would think that national football is the be-all and end-all of these youngsters’ lives.
If it is so important -- qualification for the Under-17 World Youth Championships -- then don’t stop with the SSFL. Why not take them away from their environment, parents and education and let them play football for eight hours every day so they can concentrate on qualification?
But after qualification, what’s next?
Is T&T going to be ‘also rans’ or are the young Jumpers and Wavers going to win the global tournament?
I suspect Atomic Anton is being hasty, although it appears he has good intentions as a coach, but, as a guardian and mentor for those youngsters, he’s way too absent-minded for my liking.
Perhaps, Atomic Anton should try to remember the pride he took in wearing his Fatima College colours in those battles with St. Mary’s College and Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive back in the 70s when players like Ian Clauzel, Christian Rodriquez and himself drew the crowds and entertained the fans, and how much that helped in his development as a footballer, scholar and, I might add, as a human being.
Now, our world is going to be turned upside down by Atomic Anton, because the Jumpers and Waves qualified for Germany 2006 and our technical experts are setting unrealistic goals (forgive the pun) for all our National teams.
It would seem, to this humble scribe, that we have lost all sense of reality, and our senior coaches are hell-bent on going to every FIFA “World Cup”, even if that means destroying the traditional nursery for our young players.
I would have preferred that Atomic Anton create an alternative solution, rather than trying to destroy what the young players cherish so much and what is considered for so many the highlight of the local football season.
The rhetoric all sounds good, though; Atomic Anton’s insistence that we have to have our priorities straight and the national interest should come first. (I just hope the parents find their voices and put an end to this nonsense talk.)
Did our national coaches take into consideration the views of the parents of these boys before coming to their draconian proposal?
I may be wrong but it seems like a done deal; the players are going to be banned from playing for their schools because the “intensity level” is too low and they have to do “strength training.”
By the way, are Atomic Anton and Whimsy Wim guaranteeing those boys a place in the next under-17 world championships if they give up playing for their schools?
Life has its challenges and I think the know-all coaches should spend a little time developing a plan for the youngsters that includes them playing for their schools, so they can have the best of both worlds, without Atomic Anton taking after the SSFL with a big club.
This just seems so unnecessary and our technical experts should think careful before they execute this master plan; just a word of wisdom from someone with far more grey hair than Atomic Anton.
Give the boys the chance to be boys and stop talking about what Haiti is doing.