For coach Chris Bailey, leading Fyzabad Composite to the South Zone RBTT crown, was a dream come true. He had to endure several negative comments but he had complete faith in his young players...and they did not let him down.
Bailey told the ARENA that without the negatives, the team would not have had the determination and motivation to prove their critics wrong.
“They called us minnows but that only helped us to turn that into a positive. I always told the boys that we would win and in order to get success there must be belief,” said Bailey.
A policeman by profession, Bailey is no stranger to Fyzabad Composite. He was a former student and player for the southern champs. “Growing up, I was involved in football, athletics and hockey but I chose to pursue football because I preferred it. I played for Firechief and Forest Reserve,” he said.
Bailey remembers playing for Fyzabad Intermediate. “I was on the team when they won the Under-16 title,” he said proudly.
He then went on to play for Fyzabad Composite when he re-sat the CXC examinations.
The Fyzabad resident said when he decided to coach the team two years ago, he knew they would be the champs.
“It is a great sense of achievement. I have attained what I set out to do, which was to get the youths to believe in themselves.”
Bailey said that he taught the boys “once you have the discipline and commitment” anything is possible.
It was this motivation that gave the players the extra push to beat teams like Naparima College and Vessigny Government to clinch the title.
Bailey said another reason for the team’s success was the technical strategy which was to stress on the collaborative effort as opposed to individual attempts.
“It is always about team effort not the individual thing,” he said.
Bailey also praised his technical team of manager Dereck Lange, Joseph Mitchell (physiotherapist,) Glen Bodoosingh (equipment manager) and masseur Tasha Young Lai.
‘With the almighty anything is possible. That was our formula. Believe in God and yourself and anything can happen,” he ended.
Name: Chris Bailey
Age: 37
Hometown: Fyzabad
Qualifications: Physical training instructor (PTI) 1997.
Completed the TTFA Coaching course.
Completed Caribbean Coaching Certification Programme.
Teams he coached:
Fyzabad football team 2003, 2004.
Minor league - Firechief Sports
Youth football - Forest Fyzabad Football Development 1998
Achievements:
South Zone RBTT Intercol champs.
Firechief won league for a series of years including Fyzabad league, knockout and Big Four.
Forest Fyzabad Football Development success which include:
1999 U-14 knockout.
2000 U-15 league and knock out.
2001 U-15 league and knockout.
2002 U-17 league and knockout.
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