‘RENDEZVOUS With The KING PELE: From Harbour View to the New York COSMOS and BACK
1969 - 1979
The year 1969 was to mark the beginning of my first full year in the United States. By this time I had already visited most of New York famous landmarks including the Empire State Building, Wall Street, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, etc. I also experienced my first real winter which proved to be more adventurous and exciting than cold. After the first winter's freeze I looked forward to the 'warm' Spring weather when I would be able to enjoy the outdoors once again playing the only game that I loved- football.
In the months leading up to the Summer of '69 I played football with Jamaican youths in a Park at Brooklyn Avenue and Park Place. Here I met two similarly aspiring ‘ballers’ in Costa Rican Arnold ‘Chico’ Rodriquez and another countryman Lenny ‘Kilroy’ Taylor both then students in attendance at Boys High school in Bedford Stuyvesant. Boys High most famous athlete at the time was NBA legend Lew Alcindor or Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I continued to practice and fantasize about playing international football...this while preparing myself for another season of action in the German American Soccer league.
I spent my first summer holidays from school in much the same manner as the previous year,that is, journeying from Brooklyn to the playfield at Jerome Ave and River Ave outside Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx. There I enhanced my skills playing against other Caribbean nationals. I made rapid strides in my development that by the end of the summer my efforts were rewarded as the New York Ukrainians promoted me to their U17 Junior team though just reaching the tender age of 15.
SEPTEMBER 1969 marked the beginning of my second year at Erasmus Hall high school and although I was ineligible to play with the school team I remained upbeat as the novelty of A Merry Ka and the excitement of snow fall, wearing cashmere coats, snake shoes, leather jackets and eating pizzas satisfied my appetite for things made in the USA.
The desire to be self reliant was always a driving force in my own persona and so the early part of my second summer was spent seeking summer employment. I checked with a few Man Power Agencies in Bedford Stuy but somehow felt inhibited due to my heavy Jamaican accent which often made me more observant than aggressive/vociferous. By the summer of 1969 my older brother Kitch made his exit from Jamaica, and joined the family at Park Place bringing another dimension to my stay in A Merry Ka .
In the Summer of 1969 I spent less time traveling to and from the Bronx to play football as I had discovered another play area in Prospect Park, a tremendously large green space where much football was played on almost a daily basis. I spent more time going to parties, Coney Island, beach fronts and in general just having a real good time. I also knew that come my third year at Erasmus I would be experienced and ready to play high school soccer. I would be placed on the morning shift and eligible for teamtrials…which took place in the evenings. I looked forward to playing my first competitive season of high school football and begin the pursuit of My Visions. Similarly, the Amerikan Dream was beginning to formulate in my mind and I looked forward to one day being a "soccer super star".
1970- A NEW DECADE
In the rarefied atmosphere of Mexico City, the Brazilian national team led by the incomparable King PELE defeated Italy by 4 - 1 secured their third world Championship title and retired the Jules Rimet Trophy. ..providing much inspiration to young players worldwide.
ERASMUS HALL FOOTBALL TEAM
The year 1970 marked the beginning of a New Decade in A Merry Ka with the fate and fortunes of IMAN/DonD set to slowly unfold. After two years playing in various spaces and cultures I relished the thought of playing for the high school team with the prospect of gaining popularity, hopefully a scholarship, and a shot at the professional game.
My first year of eligibility would become complicated after securing my first job during the Summer of 1970 at Alexander’s Department Stores located in the newly built Kings Plaza in Brooklyn. Alexander’s was a chain of department stores owned by the Farkas family. Alexander’s sold everything; from an anchor to a pin inclusive of excellent clothing jewelry, hardware, house-wares, etc.
There was a two week training in Long Island store before becoming part of a new and large work force that would drive the Alexander’s Store to achieve high levels of earnings. At Alexander’s I earned my first US dollars beginning as a wrapper and moved to the more challenging role of cashier. Here IMAN had to handle great amounts of US currency with long nights in the money room counting tens of thousands of dollars each night with the volume greatly inflated on sale days and week-ends. All was well in the months of July and August.
The parties were frequent and loud with large gatherings in basements and apartment buildings…the American girls always seeming and sounding aggressive yet sexy mixed with the sweet sounding Jamaican and Trinidadian music and accents were the hallmark of the summer.
The soccer program at Erasmus was low on the pecking order as American football, baseball, basketball and the boosters dominated the sporting landscape. Soccer was the immigrant sport and as such I was able to meet players from various countries who all had a particular' style' of playing. I met Caribbean players: Haitians, Guyanese, Trinidadians, Grenadians, etc. players from Central America, South America and Europe ( as far away as Turkey). Erasmus football team was like a mini- United Nations led by an American baseball coach Jerry Sorokoff. Sorokoff loved soccer but was really an expert at coaching the school’s baseball team. In this regard, much of the technical and tactical considerations were carried out by the players who collectively proved to be quite cooperative and knowledgeable about the game. We intended to put Erasmus on the sport map and raise the status of the game in the school.
Being a member of the minority West Indian community and playing a game with our feet as opposed to our hands was not particularly attractive, impressive or respected by the dominant American culture of sport. I struggled in my first season with Erasmus with intense pressure of having to travel from training which began at 3:30 at the Parade Grounds located at Flatbush and Parkside avenue to reach Alexander’s for the 6 – 10 shift. I became a regular ‘late-comer’ and even began to sleep on the job. A rough choice would have to be made: self-reliance thru employment or pursuing the vision of ‘playing with the King’. The Vision won the day and during the middle of the season I waved Alexander’s good-bye and focused on my playing career.
My final year at Erasmus Hall, named in honor of Dutch philosopher Desiderata Erasmus, produced what was acclaimed to be the most successful team ever to represent the school. With the bulk of the players in their second season along with a couple of good new finds [goalkeeper] the team was a well rounded collection of technically and tactically able players such as Trinidadian Brian Coggins, Argentinian Carlos Romero, Haitian goalkeeper Selaine, Jamaicans Andre Flash, Cowel ‘gunman’ Newman, Fitzroy Elliot, et al who were able to use soccer as a 'tool' for establishing identity and gaining respect in a competitively hostile sporting environment.
Erasmus moved into the All City High School Final only to be ‘pipped’ 1 – 0 by a strong aggregation from Roosevelt High located in the Bronx. Immediate sorrow set in at not getting the ultimate prize but an achievement unprecedented in the history of Erasmus Hall was accomplished.
My graduation from the high school was a critical phase of my intended journey to the professional ranks in A Merry Ka. I was voted the Most Versatile Player in the most successful team to represent Erasmus at high school football/soccer…finishing 2nd in the PSAL New York City Soccer Championships… winning my first individual trophy…and being named to the PSAL New York City High School All Stars Team.
The All Star team traveled to Philadelphia to challenge the Philadelphia High School All Star team. Travelling by Greyhound bus for the first time was exhilarating. Named among the best players in New York City was no ordinary feat and became the first real feather in my cap...as a ‘baller. In Philadelphia I never got a chance to play as the starting team was comprised mostly from the Italian players from the champion school team Roosevelt along with a significant amount of really big good technical players. I was thrilled just to make the trip...the luncheon, the press,the general air of excitement. I remember also having to borrow a sport jacket from my older brother Kitch to meet the dress code for the trip. Signs of professional ball!
At the end of my two year jaunt with Erasmus Hall, after playing in the All New York City High school Final, named to the All NYC All Star Team...bringing glory and recognition to Erasmus, I along with several of my teammates...we were bombarded with offers of scholarship to many colleges and universities across A Merry Ka. Our talent was outstanding and the NCAA led by universities such as Howard University, St. Louis University, Long Island U., etc. proved to be strong football powers often deeply flavored with immigrant talent from Europe and the Caribbean. The offer of football scholarships perplexed our minds. The bulk of players in the Erasmus team were Caribbean in texture...many who were daunted by the prospect of traveling to distant States…from NY...away from a familiar cultural space. Instead, nearly all players opted to get into a strong and recognized college team somewhere within the NY, NJ, Conn. Tri-state region.
For IMAN...this was an important "moment of decision"...because to advance my soccer ambitions, the University level of play was the farm-system or feeder into the professional North American Soccer League...where my ambitions really rested. This was a phenomenal feeling and would place IMAN on a path to international football and stardom.
The prospects for achieving success in A Merry Ka seemed possible...as my potential was revealed within the first four years in the USA...moving from Junior Colts football at K.C. to the brink of entering the NCAa The reality was that there had to be a financial source to sustain this football venture...recognizing that my mother could not be a source of this journey considering that she already played a role in the provision of food and shelter... only a scholarship would suffice. My final decision was heavily influenced by a letter to the Jamaica Sunday Gleaner written by Nigel 'Pumi' Goodison titled: WARNING TO SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
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