INTRODUCTION
Meet the Author
First Let me tell you a little bit of how I came to write this Book. I was born in the rural areas of my Caribbean nation Trinidad and Tobago. There I grew up with my sister and my three cousins, on Edward street in Sangre Grande. We didn't have those video games that you connect to TV's but we had guitars and amps and Mics.
We had a little church that our neighbors would come to on Saturdays. Sometimes during the week we had bible studies, but those didn't require the attendance of all church members, so it sucked. Sometimes if we get a good mood and "spirit" going then a bible study could go viral, but they were usually very very boring.
I didn't always have to go to church, in fact early on I didn't go to church at all, but my three cousins did. That left me with every Saturday morning to explore. As I grew from age 7 to 10, I was exploring farther from my home. A couple of friends and I had a Saturday routine.
Bright and early Saturday morning we would get our machetes and bird cages and birds, matches, juice or sometimes wine, long sleeves for mosquitoes, kerosene for a fire and any gadget we thought would help us in the wilderness.
This is where I truly started to explore. On my journey I met many different types, ages and classes of people. People with a wide variety of dreams. Little did I know, I was in training.
In my travels, I played many sports, well, three normal sports; Cricket, Basketball and Football/Soccer. The were a lot of IEG's Improvised Exciting Games, but soccer always dominated the pick-up or 'sweat' - That's where people in the neighborhood get together and play in streets and in parks and on fields. The competition was tough, and they were not easier on a youngster, only fairer and less vicious in tackles, but adults were spared no evil.
I had pretty good grade growing up, so I went to the best high school in my country, Queen's Royal College. That was pretty rare because the school was located two hours away, and they would seldom place you that far.... unless, the student specifically stated as his first choice, that school, and scored a grade that ranged in the top 1% in the whole nation. Non the less, QRC was awesome. There I spent six and a half years with a family of extraordinary men.
In my second year of school, I was asked to play goalkeeper for my class. We had a wicked inter class league, that year my team was the Silver Salvorizors, Shareef actually painted his boot silver. We went on to get all the way to the final.
Now in my class was a very unique friend. Jacob. We had very similar interest but his father had a book store all the way in Sangre Grande, my home town. So in that final, Jacob and I both played in front of his dad. Now I didn't start off playing goalkeeper, but in that final, my captain urged me to get in goal, and I did, and I saved a couple penalties and we won. And I got the equivalent of my first "deal" where My now Agent and Manager Johnny, offered me a job at his store, and a spot on his brother-in-law's team. It was awesome, I learned many key life lessons and training lessons from my coach Selwyn and his wife Debbie.
This is when soccer went into high gear. I had one of the best GK coaches in the country as my personal coach. Marlon Zenga, trained by the Great Earl Spider Carter. There were many session where I cried, because my body failed me, or so I thought. Many sessions.... every session left what we would call, "ah shilling" - a circular bruise resulting from the sudden rapid friction that occurs from diving. They burned every time you showered but they were never thought about until time to get dressed for the next practice.
A year after I started playing organized soccer, I heard about Liverpool having a summer camp at the a venue very near my school. This was a camp for the elites, and even though I was not an elite yet, I felt and intense need to attend ... So I got my teachers to sponsor the venture. The way I sold it to them was, I am a future varsity goalkeeper, and you will be investing in the whole future of the school. and they did. And I won the a Championship Well WE won, but as captain, with a killer team, coaches, gk coaches, through the years, and that year, our manager, Mr Harrinauth, teachers who believed, band, supporters, ladies, and sponsors. QRC had a very committed Sponsor ORACLE, which was managed by Mr Faria, who also had a very elegant first touch. We Won The North Zone Championship, and that was that.
This long arduous journey led me to my first Sensei. At this camp I would me the man who taught me the secrets of managing toddlers, and the importance of being committed. His name is Dion La Foucade of La Foucade Soccer Clinic, the premiere academy for young talent. Five of the guys in that picture above trained at La Foucade. I got a job coaching the 5 and 6 years olds and the goalkeepers. So I started my coaching career one year after I started playing. I would continue coaching all through high school, college and still coach to this day. My on field playing experience was awesome, but now I feel I can look at so many different parts of what I have learned and make that into valuable information for The parents and young coaches who need it.
In Photo - Thorne Holder Goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union against the English Premiere League's Everton FC.
Chapter 1 of 9 is Next
Hearts of Love, Souls of Peace