Professor Lauds Former Student, Notable Coach MA in Liberal Studies Program, City University of New York, Oct. 10, 2010 DAVID TRABOULAY – Professor of History and Liberal Studies, College of Staten Island, the City University of New York.

Dear Friends:

I feel honored to say a few words about my friend Vernon Haynes talents as a soccer coach. Vernon was a former student of mine and a valuable member of the great St. Benedict’s College football team of the middle 1960s, a team that won practically all the trophies at the collegiate level and major club championships of Trinidad and Tobago as well, which included stalwarts like Leroy de Leon, Warren Archibald, Jan Steadman, Wilfred Cave, and Steve David, among many other fine players who went on to represent Trinidad in the World Cup qualifying stage only to miss going to the finals by sheer extreme referee partisanship in the final match with Haiti, and who were among the first Caribbean players to be awarded professional contracts in the North American Soccer League.

On returning from Europe in 1964, I taught at St. Benedict’s College from 1964 to 1968. Given also the responsibility to be manager of the College Sports teams, we recruited outstanding young soccer players, among whom was Vernon Haynes. At that time, we looked for young men who had both soccer and scholastic ability, sound human values and the ambition to achieve great things. Our College had recruited two outstanding soccer coaches, Mr. August Wooter from Surinam, and Mr. Americo Brunner from Brazil. August Wooter had played for his national team and Brunner was a member of the brilliant Hungary team of the 1950s that included such giants as Puskas. He migrated to Brazil later in his life. Wooter emphasized technical skills, from the simple to the most sophisticated; Brunner focused on teaching the players that football was an art, and inspired them to model their play on Brazil. Both instilled in the team the commitment to discipline and hard work. If you were to ask Trinidad soccer enthusiasts which decade of football they remembered, most will confess that it was the magnificence of the St. Benedict’s College teams of the 1960s.

I met Vernon again in New York about five years ago, and we re-established our friendship. He was an unassuming young man who was an outstanding midfield player, intelligent and a brilliant passer. He was a fine coach in New York. He is a coach who not only can impart his knowledge of the game of soccer and soccer skills generally, but he is a fine model of good citizenship.

Sincerely Yours,

Professor David Traboulay

Football is the most beautiful sport in the world.

Dallas, Texas December 2010

Football is the most beautiful sport in the world. This is what I experienced in my secondary school years in the 1960s in Trinidad and Tobago. Today, the game seems to have lost its beauty, elegance, and grace. My former coach at my alma mater, St. Benedict’s College, La Romain, Brazilian Americo Brunner, used to drill into our heads that “futbol es un arte,” “ football is an art.” As an art, it is not only about winning and losing but about displaying the skill and grace of controlling the ball first time from many angles, the intelligence in passing the ball, a dancer’s dexterity in dribbling an opponent, all coordinated in teamwork like an orchestra, moving like a game of chess forward seeking to find an opening to the climax of a goal.

For me, football is a way of life. I was taught this by my coaches, Brazilian Mr. Americo Brunner, Mr. August Wooter and Mr. Lagadeau from Surinam, Sports master Mr. Dave Traboulay, now Prof. Trabs, Mr. Renwick, and the inspiring leadership of Dr. Dom. Basil Matthews, Principal of St Benedict’s College. We were taught that every player should know every position on the field, what ‘trap’ to use when it is appropriate, when to head the ball, when to slow the game down, when to pick the pace up, short or long passes, when to travel with the ball, when to dribble down the line and hit across to the penalty spot, when to tackle, not just running and risk getting beaten. We were also taught to put the opponent where you wanted him to go, not where he wanted to go. As for goalkeepers, keepers of today don’t know how to play their position. Why do keepers kick the ball out so high in the air to the middle of the field only for the opposing team to kick it back? This seems senseless. Midfielders don’t know how to play their position. They should see themselves as attacking players as well and try to take at least four shots at goal every half. Those at the position of striker should get at least seven shots at goal each half. Why do players wait on the ball and not attack it? Players do not seem to know when to sprint, when to screen the ball, and when not to block fellow team members from getting the ball. Why do defenders kick the ball off the field? Is this an option of defense? I hardly think so. Why don’t they develop skills to dribble or screen the ball, like the Brazilians?

I remember well when, as a 12 year old, Steve David, later ace striker for Trinidad and professional player, got both his legs broken playing for St. Benedict’s senior grade team; also, when Leroy de Leon had to substitute as a goalkeeper but no one could score on him. Calm and composed, no one could beat him in a 100 metres sprint. I still have not seen a player nationally or internationally who had the incomparable skills that he had. In my opinion, the best strikers in the heyday of great St Benedict’s teams were Steve David, Warren Archibald, Wilfred Cave, and Dick Furlonge; the best midfielders were Keith Renaud, Adrian Chandler, and Bede Wells, and the best goalkeeper was Allan Cupid.

The visual beauty of football lies in the excellence of the individual and the team. It exemplifies the values of individual freedom and team discipline. That was the meaning of my college team, St. Benedict’s College at La Romain, as it was shaped by the vision of its Principal, Dr. Dom Basil Matthews. We were told to do our best at all times and that each one should teach one another. Up to today, we still communicate and respect each other. I am asking my fellow team mates to take up the challenge given by Dom Basil he would of have us do. Can we not organize to play together one more time? This call goes out to all the football giants of that golden era. The players of today are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.

Yours Respectfully,

Vernon Haynes, Player / Coach

I must also make mention that it was an honor playing with these great players.

President Pushes Excellence