Former players urge youngsters to stay on the ball
FORMER USA footballer Coby Jones said as a youngster growing up he was told by a few coaches and other people that he was not good enough to succeed at the game, but added that those negative comments helped to drive him forward.
“Quite a few times in my career growing up a coach would say to me that I am the worst player he had ever seen, but my mother and father standing beside me would say ‘don’t listen to everything everybody has to say, believe in yourself’,” said Jones who has been capped an amazing 164 times for the USA senior national team.
Former Manchester United star and Trinidad and Tobago international Dwight Yorke said he could relate to Jones’ story as detractors will always be on the sidelines trying to deflate a young player, but noted that the important thing is to carry on nonetheless.
“Some people out there will always have doubts about your talent but you have to rise above that and believe in what you are trying to achieve,” said Yorke, who was a panellist under the theme ‘How Football Changed My Life’ at the CONCACAF Sports Summit in the Cayman Islands last week Tuesday.
Having been victims of the proverbial snub in one form or another, Yorke, Jones and Honduras all-time goal-scorer Carlos Pavon, agree that it’s important that those who have enjoyed success in the sport should set standards for the upcoming generations to look up to.
“Football has come a long way and the future for these kids is so bright and it’s just how much they want it and if they are prepared to work hard for it, (then it will be theirs),” said Yorke.
Jones underlined the importance of empowering today’s young people, in and out of football, as “they are the ones who will impact the future”.
Pavon, who has scored an impressive 58 goals in 101 appearances for the Honduras senior team, noted that equal to his desire to succeed as a player, he wanted also to be a role model for young people.
“I am always someone who wanted to set an example, and I knew the responsibility I had and as a footballer (I have) to be an example to young people,” he said through an interpreter.
