ON Saturday evening (December 14th) the Northern United All Stars football club in Gros Islet hosted its 2019 Sports Awards to celebrate the outstanding achievements of its many club members, coaches, volunteers and sponsors in grand style under the theme “Victory by Renewal, Prosperity through Growth”.
The event which took place at the Gros Islet Human Resource Centre was schedule to commence from 6.00 p.m. but got going at 7.30 p.m. with the playing of the National Anthem. The delay was due to the late arrival of nominees, which the only hitch experienced on the evening programme.
In attendance were the Club’s executive to include its President, Dereck George; Parliamentary Representative for Gros Islet, Lenard Montoute; Feature Speaker – Leslie Clarke, General Manager – Domino’s Pizza; Nominees; Special Invited Guests and the Media.
Addressing the gathering, Club President Dereck George in his remarks gave a brief history of the club, stating that, “Northern Untied started in August of 1985 with a number of youth players, basically the Gros Islet Under-18 team, and the focus was on the development of the youth in Gros Islet. The objectives was to improve the performance of our youth and building character that, I must say, is still the foundation of Northern United today”.
According to George, “We try to develop the youth into good citizens of the Town of Gros Islet and its environs; over the years we have achieved that. We have produced players both at the national and regional level; players who have gone on to play semiprofessional in Trinidad and Tobago, Elijah Joseph, Francis Lastic and in recent time Tel Lawrence, and as time goes by we are achieving our goal by telling the youth of Gros Islet, if you do take football seriously you can achieve your goal”.
The feature speaker, Leslie Clarke, in addressing the gathering dwelt on this year’s theme “Victory by Renewal, Prosperity through Growth”. He said, “The renewal that brings victory will also bring with it growth which leads to prosperity. The growth I am referring to relates to the improvement of individual skills, mental attitude and other attributes that will make for better players and winning teams”
“For those of you engaged in football you are skilled enough and fortunate enough to be offered sports scholarships and or professional playing contracts, the growth related to the renewal strategies will show itself as prosperity in that regard”
Clarke also spoke about the Mental, Psychological and Spiritual Growth. He said, “It’s inevitable we are born as babies, we grow to be teenagers, we grow to be adults and we grow old. This is the natural cycle of life and we have very little control of this process”.
“Mental and psychological Toughness” are key attributes for success in a sporting career. There are many examples in all sporting disciplines that attest to this fact’ Tennis – Roger Federer; Novak Djokovic,; Raphael Nadal; Andre Agassi and Serena Williams; Cricket – Australia for sledging; Basketball – Michael Jordan, all the skill in the world cannot compensate for ‘mental toughness’”.
“Talking prosperity, individuals can define prosperity in various ways; some define it in terms of money and material goods whereas others may relate it to the quality of life (stress free) and peace of mind. One person’s idea of prosperity may not be the same as another’s”
Clarke went on to commend the Northern United All Stars, “I again commend the club, its administration, the coaching staff and all players and team members for your achievements in 2019. You had a great plan; you executed well and are reaping the rewards. I hope that you are rightly proud of your success”.
In awards presented on the night: Colts Under 11 – Jaheim Daniel; Colts Under 14 – Lyndon Constantine.
Merit of Improvement: Kacey Charles. Memorial Award – Mervin Justin Memorial Award: Darren Donaie; Colts U11 – Tevez Evans; Colts U14 – Jovanni Esper; In Merit of Discipline – All Stars – Senior Men – Kacey Charles; Young Stars – Patrick “ Pataco” Memorial Award – Germaine Felicien; Colts U11 – Brian Henry; Colts U14 – Vince Fortune.
Player Awards: Outstanding Striker – All Stars – Elijah Louis; Young Stars – Jahil Evans; Colts U11 – Traylan Henry; Colts U14 – Samaiel Lousien; Outstanding Midfielder: All Stars: Ed Williams; Young Stars: Malik Manderson; Colts U11 –Thierry Morille; Colts U14 – Lyndon Constantine; Outstanding Defender – All Stars: Brandon Eugene; Young Stars – Darlan Cenac; Colts U11 – Justice Germaine, Colts U14 – Taye Peter. Outstanding Goalkeeper: All Stars – Giovanni Deterville; Young Stars: Darren Donaie; Colts U11: Tyrell Antoine; Colts U14: Kevel Francois.
There was also recognition of the women’s football team and boys Under 16 football team.
National Player Awards went to the following: CONCACAF Youth U14/U15 – Jahil Evans; CONCACAF Women U17 – Faith Regis; Windward Islands U17 – Darren Donaie; Windward Islands U18 and CONCACAF U20 – Troy Edward; CONCACAF Youth U23 – Zanzeber Reynolds and CONCACAF Senior Men – Giovanni Deterville.
Specialty Awards were also presented to the following: Senior – Spider Cup and MPR Turbo King Football Tournament: Leni Alcide; Jeremy Abraham; Northern Young Stars – Spider Cup, KFC U23 Football Tournament: Turjard Stava, Diego Largen; Northern Colts – Guardsman U14 and U11, Northern Zone and SLFA: Angelo Esper, Kendrick Antoine, D’Andre Antoine and Travany Greaves.
Most Dedicated player: Melvin Aurelien; Captains Appreciation: All Stars – Giovanni Deterville; Young Stars – Darren Donaie; Colts U11 – Thierry Morille and Colts U14 – Taye Peter.
Division award, an award presented to the team that has been the most outstanding, disciplined and successful within Northern United All Stars – Colts U11. Most Valuable Player: All Stars – Ed Williams; Young Stars – Jahil Evans; Colts Thierry Morille; Administrative Awards: Coaches/Managers – All Stars – Francis Mc Donald, Denver Edmund, Robert Emmanus; Young Stars: Dwight Francis, Yenei Montoute; Colts: Miran Joseph, Andy De’ Verteuil.
Appreciation to support personnel presented to the following: Germaine Peter, Marisha Augustin, Prudy Alcide, Nadia Germaine, Shamoya Manderson, Tori St. Croix, Robert Emmanus, Kerina Greaves, Yenei Montoute, Aaliyah Noel, and Raejean Montoute.
Finally the following sponsors were recognized: Massy Stores, Dominoes Pizza, PPG Paints, the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, and Lenard Montoute.
