Former St Vincent and the Grenadines international- Pete Morris, is buoyed by the amount of “raw” Vincentian Football talent that is available, and is looking forward to players’ development in the shortest possible time frame.
Morris, one of the country’s most accomplished footballers of the 1970s and 1980s, made his assessment after viewing some of the practice matches used to select players to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Senior Men’s team- Vincy Heat.
“What I have recognized is that there is an abundance of talent out there… I am very excited with the amount of talent that is on show,” Morris commented.
Morris noted that apart from local coaching, players are making some good use of the inordinate amount of Football on television.
“They are watching a lot of television, and are picking up a few things that the international clubs and teams are doing, so their game is beginning to look more modern,” he opined.
A skillful and lethal striker in his heyday, Morris disclosed that he is particularly impressed with the attackers.”Vincentian players have always been sharp… That quick passing and moving are always within our repertoire… From what I have seen, there are lots of attacking players… I am a big critic at times, but with this current crop of players, they seem ready to explode,” Morris related.
Morris believed that it was a good move to have the zonal training and practice matches, given the absence of a National Football Competition.
“You have to compliment Theon (Gordon) for putting the system in place to have the players get some form of competition and I can tell you, the selectors will have a good problem coming up with the list of players,” Morris stated.
Gordon is the Director of Technical Matters of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation.Harnessing of Talents
Notwithstanding the prospects of the players, Morris felt strongly that a system must be instituted to fine-tune the current talents.
“We now need to harness the talent with the modern way of training. These players can become very good players, once they also get the right coaching,” he underlined.
Having had extensive experience playing and coaching in the USA, Morris wants to see a greater thrust towards making the nexus from talent to stardom.
He pointed to the need for the existing positive attributes among the players to be merged with the right attitudes, proper administrative policies and a cultural change among players and other stakeholders.
Morris’ portfolio
Morris, who was part of the St Vincent and the Grenadines team that placed second in 1979 and 1981 in the then Caribbean Football Union competition, built a reputation as a most potent striker.
His performances on field saw him being selected to a Caribbean team that toured Mexico in the mid-1980s. Morris, Raultie Lowe and the late Tyrone Spence and Keith ‘Slick’ Bonadie, were the four Vincentians who made that Mexico trip.
Morris boasts a rare feat of having played in three different positions for St Vincent and the Grenadines – as left back, central midfielder and centre forward.
Other than his exploits in St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean as an amateur, Morris played professionally in the Caribbean League, Portugal and the USA, and had training stints in England, Peru and Germany.