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Big up to the Wallace Family - that includes X and Karl
but this is a feature on the real talent in the family, Delroy Wallace, Karl's younger brother.
Delroy Wallace:
A Man With Sports In His Blood
On its web site, the Parkland Select Soccer Club boasts a “dynamic program” that provides a “good balance between challenge and success for all youth and senior players.”
The club which had its inaugural season in 1989, was founded by Delroy Wallace, a realtor by profession and the club’s director and president, is an affiliate of USClub Soccer and Florida Youth Soccer Association, the youth arm of the Federation in Florida
All of the clubs players are placed on competitive traveling teams that take part in local leagues, tournaments and development camps. The program places emphasis on ball mastery in among the younger age players, as well as using a gradual introduction to other aspects of the game and team tactics.
And, on occasion, whenever appropriate, the very talented players are allowed the chance to play with older players.
Wallace notes that several of his young charged who were developed in the program have gone on to make their mark in college soccer and professionally.
The club is owned by Parkland Competitive Soccer Club, Inc. and is affiliated with USSF, USYSA, FYSA, USClub Soccer.
Jamaicansrus.com’s freelance writer Olivier Stephenson met with Wallace recently to get a better perspective about Wallace himself and the work he has been doing in youth soccer in South Florida.
This writer first came to know Wallace from our days in high school at Munro College in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. He was a talented athlete from the word go. Sprinter extraordinaire, which also was a tailor-made prerequisite for a supremely fast right wing striker. This is coming from firsthand experience, as this writer was the goalkeeper on the 1965 Munro College DaCosta Cup first-eleven soccer team, along with Wallace.
In those days, Wallace was an arch rival to the likes of none other Jamaica Olympians Lennox Miller and Michael Fray. Wallace at the time was running 100 yards and 100 meters in the low tens – both on grass and, at the time, a cinder-formula track at Jamaica’s National Stadium. A short, powerfully-built man, reminiscent of 1968 Mexico Olympics 100 meter champion Jim Hines, Mel Pender or Houston McTear – and explosive from gun to finish. He also ran an excellent 220 yards, 200 meters and quarter-mile. As a youngster, being around guys like Wallace who were that fast made me feel content just to be walking. However, this writer did come second to Wallace in the long jump at the schools’ Sports Day Inter-house Athletics. How far behind him is another matter.
With his athletic talent as a sprinter, Wallace could have gone to an American college with a track scholarship, but instead opted to his studies at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, where he excelled in both intramural soccer and track and field.
How did you get involved in youth soccer in South Florida?
I got involved in soccer in South Florida in a rather round-a-bout way. I moved from my home in Miami in 1985 and took up residence in Coral Springs that year. The subdivision in Coral Springs that I live in today and ever since 1985, reminded me very much of my neighborhood in Kingston, a true bedroom community, suburban in nature. One day, I took my sons to the local park, Mullins Park, to have some kind of outdoor activity. Of course, we noted many kids were there enjoying themselves and some of the activities were organized. We found out that soccer was one of the sports that was organized on a recreational theme and I signed up my boys to play in that program.
A one-time sprinter and striker, Wallace demonstrates to his young charges in a practice session.
Well, my sons were much better at the sport than most other kids in their age group and I was approached by an individual named Bill Teagarden, who had taken note of my younger son in a “recreational” game and asked if I would be interested in allowing my son to play “travel” soccer. Of course, the terminology was new to me, as I always took it for granted that soccer was a travel sport. I allowed my son, Craig, to join Teagarden’s team and he excelled on that team. The following year, I was asked by Bill to join him in coaching as he thought I could “teach” the boys some of the things Craig could do. I struck up a very good relationship with Bill and that started my involvement in youth soccer in South Florida.
How did Parkland Select get started?
Parkland “Select” started out somewhat as an evolvement. In 1988, the team that Craig played on in Coral Springs took what now appears to be a South Florida phenomenon, and that is despite “success” on the field, parental influence comes into play and the team must be “broken” up after having a lot of fun and winning league and tournament games. The powers that be decided that Teagarden should no longer coach the team, the parents were not enthused by the decision, and hence the birth of “Parkland Competitive “Select” Soccer Club. You will come to understand that this is the modus operandi of parents and teams in South Florida, which, of course, stultifies the youth soccer development locally. So, in 1989, Parkland Soccer, the travel arm, started. At that time Parkland had a city recreational program which, as you now understand, involved local players and no “traveling.”
Wallace says he has sports in his blood.
What was the local soccer scene like at the time you got involved?
The travel soccer scene was not terribly organized. There were teams playing in a Broward league, a Palm Beach league and a Miami-Dade league. In fact, in my view, there were only two clubs that had any semblance of quality in Broward. Those were Coral Springs, and Plantation. In Palm Beach County, only Team Boca had much credibility and in Miami-Dade County there was Strike Force. Of course, several clubs were in existence and for many years prior to that, but for all practical purposes, when you visited games and saw the quality of soccer played, it was really a group of enthusiastic kids running about and some coaches yelling. In fact, you see a lot of that today, but there are also a lot more truly competitive clubs, now.
I believe the soccer community suffered because the state organization, which governs youth soccer, was predicated on recreational soccer, and so the competitive (travel) aspect was fairly new and challenging to the personnel who actually ran the show. To a great degree, this has contributed to the poor standard of competitive soccer in Florida. The administrators then, are still in place today, and they do not have the expertise, foresight or background to truly develop quality youth competitive programs. In fact, they will tell you that they don’t develop programs, they only administer them! Whatever that means.
Think about it, we have many clubs with 3- to 4,000 kids playing yea-in-year out, and from this pool the competitive players are drawn, yet Florida is at the bottom of the totem pole in competitive youth soccer. Indeed, the clubs with these large player pools demonstrate the lowest level of competitive soccer. The top teams are produced from clubs with a small base of players, so quality and not quantity is where the emphasis should be made if development is a priority.
About how many Jamaicans, would say, are involved in the League at the moment?
The major youth league that offers travel competition is the South Florida United Youth Soccer Association, Inc. This league, incorporated in 1990, is an amalgamation of clubs from Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties . Today, there is great diversity in it, and many participants from the Caribbean and, particularly Jamaica, are a part of it. Indeed, there are perhaps 50 or so Jamaican coaches in the league, but, not enough in the administrative areas of the soccer community. The League operates with about 300 teams currently.
How would you rate the standard of the game and players at the moment?
Today, the standard of play is markedly better than in the ‘80s, when I got involved. This, I believe, has a lot to do with the diversity amongst coaches and players and, of course, the vast im-migration that caused this growth. As the numbers increased, so did the competitiveness and the willingness of coaches to join professional organizations and continually upgrade their coaching skills through seminars, workshops, licensing and diploma courses.
How did you meet Lenny Taylor, and what do you think of him as a coach and what he is currently doing?
Lenny Taylor is truly a remarkable coach that I had the opportunity to meet and still enjoy a very good professional relationship with. I knew about Lenny for many years, prior to my meeting him. I met him in 1990, ’01, at Boyd Anderson High School. I never realized that that meeting would have been the start of such a fruitful relationship. At that time, Lenny was the boys soccer coach at the high school, and when he left that position, I was asked quite unexpectedly, by the then athletic director of Boyd Anderson, Mr. Bucci, to carry on what Lenny started. Apparently, Mr. Bucci had heard about my program in Parkland and thought I could contribute to the Boyd Anderson soccer program. I enjoyed that stint at B.A. Several of those players who started with Lenny and continued with me, went on to play collegiate and professional soccer. Indeed, Tyrone Marshall, who currently plays for Jamaica and in Major League Soccer, was in that high school program. I enjoyed coaching that kid.
What do you think can be done, if any, to improve or raise the current standard of the League, as it is right now?
The current standard of the League is not good. What started out as a good idea has been emasculated. The League was set up as a members-only operation with each member club of the organization holding a single representative vote in this entity. In order to be a member, a club had to be approved by the members upon application and satisfying an established criteria. When the organization was chartered, the intent was to have soccer people run the show. It made sense, as it had been noted that in other organizations when non-soccer people made decisions, very often, those decisions were not in the interest of the membership, but, mostly biased and selfish. Today, we have a few clubs with more than one de facto representative on the committee of management, and a number of participating clubs who are not members of the organization, and, as such, the decision-making leaves much to be desired. What this has done, is to create the fracturing of the league and a reluctance by some of the quality teams to participate in it. Consequently most quality competitive teams look to tournaments, private friendly games, and other premier leagues for competition. To a large degree, most teams that compete in the league do so in order to qualify for a national competition run by the state organization. When this is no longer convenient and necessary, the league, if it doesn’t correct its trend, will be just another source of enthusiastic kids and yelling coaches, as it was in the ‘80s. Of course, quality clubs and teams will be competing elsewhere.
What clubs would you say are the best in the League at the moment?
The best clubs in the league from the standpoint of organization and quality teams produced, would be few and far between. It would be fair to say that the Boca Juniors program is quite good, West Kendall is consistently good and our own Parkland ‘Select”. Last season ‘03-‘04, our program produced a very good senior team (U-19), that finished in the final four of the state competition, and a U-15 team that was as good as the state championship team, but we suffered five summary ejections in one of our qualifying games, which effectively eliminated us from contention. There are over fifty clubs locally and many with hundreds of players, but most are synonymous with quantity and not quality. Last season, ‘03-’04, there was a good U-17 team in Weston, but, I don’t know if one team out of several thousand players make the club an elite one.
How do you rate the standard of coaching?
The standard of coaching now, locally, is good. In the ‘80s there were many “parent” coaches. Those who meant well, but simply were not sufficiently knowledgeable or skillful to really develop the players. In fact, I saw many people coaching from books. Books, they said, they bought or were recommended by some other people, who themselves were never participants, students of the game or coaches themselves. In fact, in the ‘80s, it was not surprising that the few clubs that were good had all the good coaches. Coaching improved in the ‘90s and is now very good.
Have you been involved with assisting any of the players in advancing to either college or the professional level?
As I alluded to earlier, several youth players who I coached in high school and club soccer went on to play collegiately and professionally. In the mid –‘90s I also had three years coaching stint at Douglas High School with one of my club assistants, Dean Shaver. Dean was the head coach at the high school and he brought me in to assist him with his program. I get involved in many of our soccer graduates at the club level by assisting them in preparing their résumés, recommending schools or professional clubs and getting them try-outs and general assistance in moving on to the next level. Some of them actually do quite well. Steve Herdsman, a Jamaican, was one of our products who played in Germany and MLS.
Where would like to see the League in about ten years?
The local league, I believe, has served its usefulness, and probably will not be much more than a scheduling body for most Division 2 teams. The real development will take place in the format of state-wide competitions, national tournaments and overseas relationships by those clubs with the vision and resources to do it. The larger clubs are too political and selfish to contribute to true soccer development. In ten years I would like to see another competitive league run somewhat like a miniature version of a professional league. I know that is currently in the planning stages and clubs with true quality programs will participate in that type of venture.
You’re attempting to start a new league, how’s that coming along?
Now you are asking me about a new league that I intend to start. It is in its infancy, but a very encouraging infancy. We started it as a summer league, last July ’04, which was fairly well supported and next year we anticipate a somewhat larger operation. This summer league is designed only for competitive teams and under a restrictive format (ages U-16, U-23). When that season – which runs for eight weeks (July to August), finishes the fall (September-November) season will start . The fall season will be for ages (U-10, U-15). We believe eight-week seasons are ideal and will allow teams to participate in many tournaments and national championship series for USSF affiliates, as well as facilitate the high school season, which runs from mid-October through February for most schools.
During each season, Wallace and his Parkland teams practice at night for two hours, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
How much longer do you see yourself being associated with the League?
I have been involved in youth soccer for many years as you can see, and I do not intend to stop , as I would like to coach my grand-children!
Where in Jamaica were you born?
I was born in Montego Bay in Jamaica.
Could you tell me a little about your early education?
My early education was as nomadic as anything one can imagine. My parents worked for Government or quasi-Government operations so we moved from parish to parish. My primary education was in the parish of Westmoreland at a small town known as Little London. From there I attended Manning’s High School in Sav-La-Mar, but as you can guess my parents were on the move after I was in fifth form, so I ended up at Munro College, a boarding institution which I thought gave me my understanding of discipline and good order, more than my earlier days at Mannings. At Mannings, which was, and still is, a coed school, I had many opportunities to be distracted, and was often distracted, but I had inordinate fun and still have some very good friends from those days that I still stay in contact with. I went to Mannings in 1959 and started at Munro in 1964. My days at Munro were unbelievable. It was there that I truly became an athlete and made many great and lasting friendships. Of course, I was older and I guess more mature, if nothing else.
Members of the 1965 Munro College DaCosta Cup team.Back row L-R: Delroy "Bunny" Wallace, Lloyd "Snake" Dennis, Olivier "Peewee" Stephenson, Michael "Tony"/"Bunny" Hall, Easton "Jimmy"/"Face" Plummer, Richard "Jirry" Grant, Winston "Odd Job" Yee, Izette "Izie" Rowe, Leroy "Proudy" Green, Kenry "Jacko" Jackson.
Front row L-R: Richard "Jughead" Campbell, Audley Hinds, (capt.), Ken Walton (coach), Dermott "Puddo" Gooden, Howard "Moon" Mckenzie.
You were also an excellent track athlete, tell me about your deviation from that sport to soccer.
As a sportsman – always a sportsman – I enjoyed track and field as much as I enjoyed soccer and cricket. When I went to college in 1966 at UWI, my first semester was the soccer term. I played for the college and I must say surprised the entire community with my pace and finishing ability. I scored many goals and helped the college to win Division titles and Inter-hall titles. I wouldn’t say I deviated from track and field, because I was the champion sprinter in my senior year at UWI, as well.
What do you think about track and field today and where it has come from the days when you were a sprinter?
Track and field today is more of a business than it was in my day. I don’t know if the athletes are truly and purely faster. I know the times in the events are quicker, but, consider a schoolboy running 10.4 secs in the 100metres on a grass track in 1966. That’s what occurred when I ran in Trinidad in that year. If you consider the surface, the shoes and the training methods today, I don’t know if there is a real difference. Don Quarrie ran under 20.00secs as a teenager! Pietra Menea of Italy ran 19-plus in the ‘70s. I remember when I told my high school coach at Munro that I would take three-tenths off my 100 time in one season, he thought I was crazy. I did better than that! I ran the equivalent of 10.8 at Boy’s Champs in 1966 and finished up the season at 10.4 in Trinidad.
What kind of influence would you say you had on your children, as far as sports is concerned?
I have always hoped my children would love sports, any type of sporting event would be fine. I believe that through sports, one, can develop character, friendships and learn a lot about life. It really teaches social integration, tolerance and humanity. My kids had to learn that. Because I coached them, I developed an extraordinary bond with my two sons. They believe I am not only a father, but also a brother to them, as well. We had a lot of very enthralling times on the sports field. My younger son, Craig, won several tournament titles with me as his coach. Our most prized trophy is our U-23 FSSA State title won in 1997, with both my sons on the field and their dad coaching them. Incidentally, that title made a lot of people take notice of the club.
When did you come to Florida?
I came to South Florida in 1979 and lived in Northeast Miami until I moved to Coral Springs in 1985.
How did you get involved in the real estate business?
It’s funny, you should ask, but I got into real estate not because it was my first choice, but, because everything I do is researched and I prepare for it. When I left Jamaica I had a lot of experience in banking, commerce and entrepreneurship. I thought of joining the private sector by looking a job. I went to two interviews and then realized that it would be less rewarding to work for anyone but myself. I thought real estate needed very little capital and I would be working for myself. So I set about getting formally trained in the discipline, getting licensed and I was on my way. Of course, I had to learn real fast about the local culture and its diversity, muted prejudices and the way of doing business in a foreign country. I have no regrets.
Would you like to go back to Munro to coach either soccer or track?
It would be a dream come true. I don’t know if that would ever happen, though. When my sons were in school here in Coral Springs, I offered them the opportunity to go to Munro College for a year before going to College over here in the States. The boys loved the idea, I wanted them to see where their dad slept in the dorms, trained on the hillsides, played in the fog and reminisce with them even for a short term or two. I believe any Munro headmaster would have agreed to let them come. Of course, I had a plan to be involved at the school, as well. Well, my wife, who is a graduate of Hampton School, would have none of it. No matter how hard we begged. She just wasn’t comfortable with the idea.
What do you think of the plethora of young Brazilian youth here in Broward County that are involved in soccer, and how do you assess their talent?
Those Brazilian talents we see in Broward County is something every youth coach should promote in getting involved in our soccer culture. Many of these kids are very young and bring an inherent flair to the game which cannot be taught. It is a gift. I believe that these kids when they are taken up this young will bring the beauty of the game alive, and with a disciplined approach to coaching them, will eventually be worth it. They are at the stage when they are ripe for learning. Consider such skill with vision and intelligence. Take a look at the 1970 World Cup final. That is the beautiful game!
What do you foresee for the future of Parkland?
I foresee a very interesting and positive future for our club. As the dynamics change in soccer, you have to look at your product. We have a true professional in charge of all our goalkeepers, so this ensures that they get the attention and proper coaching, beginning at the younger age, and, of course, that makes it easier for them to handle more advanced training. Over the years, we have always had good goalkeepers, and the training they receive is a big part of this. On the field our coaching staff are all qualified and experienced. We make it routine that our staff attend seminars, workshops, residential licensing courses. There aren’t any “parent” coaching in our operation. We only have certified, licensed and diploma accredited individuals as a part of the training program.
Interestingly, we have a policy of no direct recruiting of players. Our players are he advertisers for us by their performance, which is a result of the professional approach in our training sessions, and so the players by their play, encourage others looking on to get with our program. We make sure that we do not solicit other players from rival clubs. Indeed, we have never done that, but many other clubs have recruited many of our players after seeing them play against them or other teams. Usually, we are approached to allow a player to “guest” on a team in some tournament, or other. After the tournament is over, unscrupulous coaches have tried, and in some cases, succeeded, in having a player leave the organization. Call it poetic justice, but, no player who has left us in this manner in the history of our club has gone on to achieve anything notable in soccer.
What other sports do you enjoy?
As I said earlier, I consider myself a sportsman. I like all the sports that I was introduced to at an early age and grew up as a participant in them. Cricket, football, track and field. Of course I was introduced to American football and was made to understand and appreciate it because my sons were heavily involved in it , both at the high school and city level, and in Craig’s case at his college (USF) when he attended . I appreciate and enjoy watching professional tennis, boxing and an occasional game of rugby. I don’t think I could exist without sports in my life. I had a very extensive involvement in thoroughbred horse racing in Jamaica where for several years I was a professionally licensed horse trainer, ran my own private stables, won many feature races at Caymans Park with several horses and served the Jamaica Racehorse Trainers Association as their president for five years. So you see, sports is in my blood!
Do you think the MLS will improve to where the players can earn more money?
MLS soccer is in a difficult financial situation. I often wonder how such a structure can exist for any extensive period of time with such large deficits annually. No one has been able to explain it really. At some point the “chickens will come home to roost.” I believe if the U.S. national team [takes a] skid and falls several rungs on the international stage, the subsidy in MLS will probably not continue at its current level. Who would support a league in a country if its national program cannot benefit from it? It will continue to be what it is, a feeder for the more affluent clubs overseas when very good players in the league are developed and can be sold. I believe, though, that it has come a long way in its standard, but, really, one has to be realistic, players are not going to earn a lot of money in MLS on the whole. A few will.
Do you think women’s professional soccer still has a future in the U.S.?
I believe there will be many stops and starts depending on the national program’s fortune. I don’t see it, though, as a dynamic well run money making venture. To attract a large fan base the product has to be outstanding, and without the fan base there will be little corporate support. Of course, if you have neither, the writing is on the wall.
Have you ever coached women?
No, I have never coached women, but, who knows, I may yet do that. My grand-daughter likes to kick a soccer ball when she visits. It is really a joy to me to see the delight in her face doing it.
Delroy Wallace:
A Man With Sports In His Blood
by Olivier Stephenson
On its web site, the Parkland Select Soccer Club boasts a “dynamic program” that provides a “good balance between challenge and success for all youth and senior players.”
The club which had its inaugural season in 1989, was founded by Delroy Wallace, a realtor by profession and the club’s director and president, is an affiliate of USClub Soccer and Florida Youth Soccer Association, the youth arm of the Federation in Florida
All of the clubs players are placed on competitive traveling teams that take part in local leagues, tournaments and development camps. The program places emphasis on ball mastery in among the younger age players, as well as using a gradual introduction to other aspects of the game and team tactics.
And, on occasion, whenever appropriate, the very talented players are allowed the chance to play with older players.
Wallace notes that several of his young charged who were developed in the program have gone on to make their mark in college soccer and professionally.
The club is owned by Parkland Competitive Soccer Club, Inc. and is affiliated with USSF, USYSA, FYSA, USClub Soccer.
Jamaicansrus.com’s freelance writer Olivier Stephenson met with Wallace recently to get a better perspective about Wallace himself and the work he has been doing in youth soccer in South Florida.
This writer first came to know Wallace from our days in high school at Munro College in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. He was a talented athlete from the word go. Sprinter extraordinaire, which also was a tailor-made prerequisite for a supremely fast right wing striker. This is coming from firsthand experience, as this writer was the goalkeeper on the 1965 Munro College DaCosta Cup first-eleven soccer team, along with Wallace.
In those days, Wallace was an arch rival to the likes of none other Jamaica Olympians Lennox Miller and Michael Fray. Wallace at the time was running 100 yards and 100 meters in the low tens – both on grass and, at the time, a cinder-formula track at Jamaica’s National Stadium. A short, powerfully-built man, reminiscent of 1968 Mexico Olympics 100 meter champion Jim Hines, Mel Pender or Houston McTear – and explosive from gun to finish. He also ran an excellent 220 yards, 200 meters and quarter-mile. As a youngster, being around guys like Wallace who were that fast made me feel content just to be walking. However, this writer did come second to Wallace in the long jump at the schools’ Sports Day Inter-house Athletics. How far behind him is another matter.
With his athletic talent as a sprinter, Wallace could have gone to an American college with a track scholarship, but instead opted to his studies at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, where he excelled in both intramural soccer and track and field.
How did you get involved in youth soccer in South Florida?
I got involved in soccer in South Florida in a rather round-a-bout way. I moved from my home in Miami in 1985 and took up residence in Coral Springs that year. The subdivision in Coral Springs that I live in today and ever since 1985, reminded me very much of my neighborhood in Kingston, a true bedroom community, suburban in nature. One day, I took my sons to the local park, Mullins Park, to have some kind of outdoor activity. Of course, we noted many kids were there enjoying themselves and some of the activities were organized. We found out that soccer was one of the sports that was organized on a recreational theme and I signed up my boys to play in that program.
A one-time sprinter and striker, Wallace demonstrates to his young charges in a practice session.
Well, my sons were much better at the sport than most other kids in their age group and I was approached by an individual named Bill Teagarden, who had taken note of my younger son in a “recreational” game and asked if I would be interested in allowing my son to play “travel” soccer. Of course, the terminology was new to me, as I always took it for granted that soccer was a travel sport. I allowed my son, Craig, to join Teagarden’s team and he excelled on that team. The following year, I was asked by Bill to join him in coaching as he thought I could “teach” the boys some of the things Craig could do. I struck up a very good relationship with Bill and that started my involvement in youth soccer in South Florida.
How did Parkland Select get started?
Parkland “Select” started out somewhat as an evolvement. In 1988, the team that Craig played on in Coral Springs took what now appears to be a South Florida phenomenon, and that is despite “success” on the field, parental influence comes into play and the team must be “broken” up after having a lot of fun and winning league and tournament games. The powers that be decided that Teagarden should no longer coach the team, the parents were not enthused by the decision, and hence the birth of “Parkland Competitive “Select” Soccer Club. You will come to understand that this is the modus operandi of parents and teams in South Florida, which, of course, stultifies the youth soccer development locally. So, in 1989, Parkland Soccer, the travel arm, started. At that time Parkland had a city recreational program which, as you now understand, involved local players and no “traveling.”
Wallace says he has sports in his blood.
What was the local soccer scene like at the time you got involved?
The travel soccer scene was not terribly organized. There were teams playing in a Broward league, a Palm Beach league and a Miami-Dade league. In fact, in my view, there were only two clubs that had any semblance of quality in Broward. Those were Coral Springs, and Plantation. In Palm Beach County, only Team Boca had much credibility and in Miami-Dade County there was Strike Force. Of course, several clubs were in existence and for many years prior to that, but for all practical purposes, when you visited games and saw the quality of soccer played, it was really a group of enthusiastic kids running about and some coaches yelling. In fact, you see a lot of that today, but there are also a lot more truly competitive clubs, now.
I believe the soccer community suffered because the state organization, which governs youth soccer, was predicated on recreational soccer, and so the competitive (travel) aspect was fairly new and challenging to the personnel who actually ran the show. To a great degree, this has contributed to the poor standard of competitive soccer in Florida. The administrators then, are still in place today, and they do not have the expertise, foresight or background to truly develop quality youth competitive programs. In fact, they will tell you that they don’t develop programs, they only administer them! Whatever that means.
Think about it, we have many clubs with 3- to 4,000 kids playing yea-in-year out, and from this pool the competitive players are drawn, yet Florida is at the bottom of the totem pole in competitive youth soccer. Indeed, the clubs with these large player pools demonstrate the lowest level of competitive soccer. The top teams are produced from clubs with a small base of players, so quality and not quantity is where the emphasis should be made if development is a priority.
About how many Jamaicans, would say, are involved in the League at the moment?
The major youth league that offers travel competition is the South Florida United Youth Soccer Association, Inc. This league, incorporated in 1990, is an amalgamation of clubs from Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties . Today, there is great diversity in it, and many participants from the Caribbean and, particularly Jamaica, are a part of it. Indeed, there are perhaps 50 or so Jamaican coaches in the league, but, not enough in the administrative areas of the soccer community. The League operates with about 300 teams currently.
How would you rate the standard of the game and players at the moment?
Today, the standard of play is markedly better than in the ‘80s, when I got involved. This, I believe, has a lot to do with the diversity amongst coaches and players and, of course, the vast im-migration that caused this growth. As the numbers increased, so did the competitiveness and the willingness of coaches to join professional organizations and continually upgrade their coaching skills through seminars, workshops, licensing and diploma courses.
How did you meet Lenny Taylor, and what do you think of him as a coach and what he is currently doing?
Lenny Taylor is truly a remarkable coach that I had the opportunity to meet and still enjoy a very good professional relationship with. I knew about Lenny for many years, prior to my meeting him. I met him in 1990, ’01, at Boyd Anderson High School. I never realized that that meeting would have been the start of such a fruitful relationship. At that time, Lenny was the boys soccer coach at the high school, and when he left that position, I was asked quite unexpectedly, by the then athletic director of Boyd Anderson, Mr. Bucci, to carry on what Lenny started. Apparently, Mr. Bucci had heard about my program in Parkland and thought I could contribute to the Boyd Anderson soccer program. I enjoyed that stint at B.A. Several of those players who started with Lenny and continued with me, went on to play collegiate and professional soccer. Indeed, Tyrone Marshall, who currently plays for Jamaica and in Major League Soccer, was in that high school program. I enjoyed coaching that kid.
What do you think can be done, if any, to improve or raise the current standard of the League, as it is right now?
The current standard of the League is not good. What started out as a good idea has been emasculated. The League was set up as a members-only operation with each member club of the organization holding a single representative vote in this entity. In order to be a member, a club had to be approved by the members upon application and satisfying an established criteria. When the organization was chartered, the intent was to have soccer people run the show. It made sense, as it had been noted that in other organizations when non-soccer people made decisions, very often, those decisions were not in the interest of the membership, but, mostly biased and selfish. Today, we have a few clubs with more than one de facto representative on the committee of management, and a number of participating clubs who are not members of the organization, and, as such, the decision-making leaves much to be desired. What this has done, is to create the fracturing of the league and a reluctance by some of the quality teams to participate in it. Consequently most quality competitive teams look to tournaments, private friendly games, and other premier leagues for competition. To a large degree, most teams that compete in the league do so in order to qualify for a national competition run by the state organization. When this is no longer convenient and necessary, the league, if it doesn’t correct its trend, will be just another source of enthusiastic kids and yelling coaches, as it was in the ‘80s. Of course, quality clubs and teams will be competing elsewhere.
What clubs would you say are the best in the League at the moment?
The best clubs in the league from the standpoint of organization and quality teams produced, would be few and far between. It would be fair to say that the Boca Juniors program is quite good, West Kendall is consistently good and our own Parkland ‘Select”. Last season ‘03-‘04, our program produced a very good senior team (U-19), that finished in the final four of the state competition, and a U-15 team that was as good as the state championship team, but we suffered five summary ejections in one of our qualifying games, which effectively eliminated us from contention. There are over fifty clubs locally and many with hundreds of players, but most are synonymous with quantity and not quality. Last season, ‘03-’04, there was a good U-17 team in Weston, but, I don’t know if one team out of several thousand players make the club an elite one.
How do you rate the standard of coaching?
The standard of coaching now, locally, is good. In the ‘80s there were many “parent” coaches. Those who meant well, but simply were not sufficiently knowledgeable or skillful to really develop the players. In fact, I saw many people coaching from books. Books, they said, they bought or were recommended by some other people, who themselves were never participants, students of the game or coaches themselves. In fact, in the ‘80s, it was not surprising that the few clubs that were good had all the good coaches. Coaching improved in the ‘90s and is now very good.
Have you been involved with assisting any of the players in advancing to either college or the professional level?
As I alluded to earlier, several youth players who I coached in high school and club soccer went on to play collegiately and professionally. In the mid –‘90s I also had three years coaching stint at Douglas High School with one of my club assistants, Dean Shaver. Dean was the head coach at the high school and he brought me in to assist him with his program. I get involved in many of our soccer graduates at the club level by assisting them in preparing their résumés, recommending schools or professional clubs and getting them try-outs and general assistance in moving on to the next level. Some of them actually do quite well. Steve Herdsman, a Jamaican, was one of our products who played in Germany and MLS.
Where would like to see the League in about ten years?
The local league, I believe, has served its usefulness, and probably will not be much more than a scheduling body for most Division 2 teams. The real development will take place in the format of state-wide competitions, national tournaments and overseas relationships by those clubs with the vision and resources to do it. The larger clubs are too political and selfish to contribute to true soccer development. In ten years I would like to see another competitive league run somewhat like a miniature version of a professional league. I know that is currently in the planning stages and clubs with true quality programs will participate in that type of venture.
You’re attempting to start a new league, how’s that coming along?
Now you are asking me about a new league that I intend to start. It is in its infancy, but a very encouraging infancy. We started it as a summer league, last July ’04, which was fairly well supported and next year we anticipate a somewhat larger operation. This summer league is designed only for competitive teams and under a restrictive format (ages U-16, U-23). When that season – which runs for eight weeks (July to August), finishes the fall (September-November) season will start . The fall season will be for ages (U-10, U-15). We believe eight-week seasons are ideal and will allow teams to participate in many tournaments and national championship series for USSF affiliates, as well as facilitate the high school season, which runs from mid-October through February for most schools.
During each season, Wallace and his Parkland teams practice at night for two hours, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
How much longer do you see yourself being associated with the League?
I have been involved in youth soccer for many years as you can see, and I do not intend to stop , as I would like to coach my grand-children!
Where in Jamaica were you born?
I was born in Montego Bay in Jamaica.
Could you tell me a little about your early education?
My early education was as nomadic as anything one can imagine. My parents worked for Government or quasi-Government operations so we moved from parish to parish. My primary education was in the parish of Westmoreland at a small town known as Little London. From there I attended Manning’s High School in Sav-La-Mar, but as you can guess my parents were on the move after I was in fifth form, so I ended up at Munro College, a boarding institution which I thought gave me my understanding of discipline and good order, more than my earlier days at Mannings. At Mannings, which was, and still is, a coed school, I had many opportunities to be distracted, and was often distracted, but I had inordinate fun and still have some very good friends from those days that I still stay in contact with. I went to Mannings in 1959 and started at Munro in 1964. My days at Munro were unbelievable. It was there that I truly became an athlete and made many great and lasting friendships. Of course, I was older and I guess more mature, if nothing else.
Members of the 1965 Munro College DaCosta Cup team.
Front row L-R: Richard "Jughead" Campbell, Audley Hinds, (capt.), Ken Walton (coach), Dermott "Puddo" Gooden, Howard "Moon" Mckenzie.
You were also an excellent track athlete, tell me about your deviation from that sport to soccer.
As a sportsman – always a sportsman – I enjoyed track and field as much as I enjoyed soccer and cricket. When I went to college in 1966 at UWI, my first semester was the soccer term. I played for the college and I must say surprised the entire community with my pace and finishing ability. I scored many goals and helped the college to win Division titles and Inter-hall titles. I wouldn’t say I deviated from track and field, because I was the champion sprinter in my senior year at UWI, as well.
Wallace in the 1970s was president of the Jamaica Thoroughbred Race Horse Trainers Association and director of Racing Promotions Ltd. Here is (c) along with (l-r) horse owner Tyrone Chen, horse Royal Eclipse, and jockey Suerton Stone.
What do you think about track and field today and where it has come from the days when you were a sprinter?
Track and field today is more of a business than it was in my day. I don’t know if the athletes are truly and purely faster. I know the times in the events are quicker, but, consider a schoolboy running 10.4 secs in the 100metres on a grass track in 1966. That’s what occurred when I ran in Trinidad in that year. If you consider the surface, the shoes and the training methods today, I don’t know if there is a real difference. Don Quarrie ran under 20.00secs as a teenager! Pietra Menea of Italy ran 19-plus in the ‘70s. I remember when I told my high school coach at Munro that I would take three-tenths off my 100 time in one season, he thought I was crazy. I did better than that! I ran the equivalent of 10.8 at Boy’s Champs in 1966 and finished up the season at 10.4 in Trinidad.
Wallace winning the Intra-mural 100 yards finals at the University of the West Indies, Mona, 1966. From l-r, Kempton Small, Wallace, Clive Hobson.
What kind of influence would you say you had on your children, as far as sports is concerned?
I have always hoped my children would love sports, any type of sporting event would be fine. I believe that through sports, one, can develop character, friendships and learn a lot about life. It really teaches social integration, tolerance and humanity. My kids had to learn that. Because I coached them, I developed an extraordinary bond with my two sons. They believe I am not only a father, but also a brother to them, as well. We had a lot of very enthralling times on the sports field. My younger son, Craig, won several tournament titles with me as his coach. Our most prized trophy is our U-23 FSSA State title won in 1997, with both my sons on the field and their dad coaching them. Incidentally, that title made a lot of people take notice of the club.
When did you come to Florida?
I came to South Florida in 1979 and lived in Northeast Miami until I moved to Coral Springs in 1985.
How did you get involved in the real estate business?
It’s funny, you should ask, but I got into real estate not because it was my first choice, but, because everything I do is researched and I prepare for it. When I left Jamaica I had a lot of experience in banking, commerce and entrepreneurship. I thought of joining the private sector by looking a job. I went to two interviews and then realized that it would be less rewarding to work for anyone but myself. I thought real estate needed very little capital and I would be working for myself. So I set about getting formally trained in the discipline, getting licensed and I was on my way. Of course, I had to learn real fast about the local culture and its diversity, muted prejudices and the way of doing business in a foreign country. I have no regrets.
Would you like to go back to Munro to coach either soccer or track?
It would be a dream come true. I don’t know if that would ever happen, though. When my sons were in school here in Coral Springs, I offered them the opportunity to go to Munro College for a year before going to College over here in the States. The boys loved the idea, I wanted them to see where their dad slept in the dorms, trained on the hillsides, played in the fog and reminisce with them even for a short term or two. I believe any Munro headmaster would have agreed to let them come. Of course, I had a plan to be involved at the school, as well. Well, my wife, who is a graduate of Hampton School, would have none of it. No matter how hard we begged. She just wasn’t comfortable with the idea.
What do you think of the plethora of young Brazilian youth here in Broward County that are involved in soccer, and how do you assess their talent?
Those Brazilian talents we see in Broward County is something every youth coach should promote in getting involved in our soccer culture. Many of these kids are very young and bring an inherent flair to the game which cannot be taught. It is a gift. I believe that these kids when they are taken up this young will bring the beauty of the game alive, and with a disciplined approach to coaching them, will eventually be worth it. They are at the stage when they are ripe for learning. Consider such skill with vision and intelligence. Take a look at the 1970 World Cup final. That is the beautiful game!
What do you foresee for the future of Parkland?
I foresee a very interesting and positive future for our club. As the dynamics change in soccer, you have to look at your product. We have a true professional in charge of all our goalkeepers, so this ensures that they get the attention and proper coaching, beginning at the younger age, and, of course, that makes it easier for them to handle more advanced training. Over the years, we have always had good goalkeepers, and the training they receive is a big part of this. On the field our coaching staff are all qualified and experienced. We make it routine that our staff attend seminars, workshops, residential licensing courses. There aren’t any “parent” coaching in our operation. We only have certified, licensed and diploma accredited individuals as a part of the training program.
Interestingly, we have a policy of no direct recruiting of players. Our players are he advertisers for us by their performance, which is a result of the professional approach in our training sessions, and so the players by their play, encourage others looking on to get with our program. We make sure that we do not solicit other players from rival clubs. Indeed, we have never done that, but many other clubs have recruited many of our players after seeing them play against them or other teams. Usually, we are approached to allow a player to “guest” on a team in some tournament, or other. After the tournament is over, unscrupulous coaches have tried, and in some cases, succeeded, in having a player leave the organization. Call it poetic justice, but, no player who has left us in this manner in the history of our club has gone on to achieve anything notable in soccer.
What other sports do you enjoy?
As I said earlier, I consider myself a sportsman. I like all the sports that I was introduced to at an early age and grew up as a participant in them. Cricket, football, track and field. Of course I was introduced to American football and was made to understand and appreciate it because my sons were heavily involved in it , both at the high school and city level, and in Craig’s case at his college (USF) when he attended . I appreciate and enjoy watching professional tennis, boxing and an occasional game of rugby. I don’t think I could exist without sports in my life. I had a very extensive involvement in thoroughbred horse racing in Jamaica where for several years I was a professionally licensed horse trainer, ran my own private stables, won many feature races at Caymans Park with several horses and served the Jamaica Racehorse Trainers Association as their president for five years. So you see, sports is in my blood!
Do you think the MLS will improve to where the players can earn more money?
MLS soccer is in a difficult financial situation. I often wonder how such a structure can exist for any extensive period of time with such large deficits annually. No one has been able to explain it really. At some point the “chickens will come home to roost.” I believe if the U.S. national team [takes a] skid and falls several rungs on the international stage, the subsidy in MLS will probably not continue at its current level. Who would support a league in a country if its national program cannot benefit from it? It will continue to be what it is, a feeder for the more affluent clubs overseas when very good players in the league are developed and can be sold. I believe, though, that it has come a long way in its standard, but, really, one has to be realistic, players are not going to earn a lot of money in MLS on the whole. A few will.
Do you think women’s professional soccer still has a future in the U.S.?
I believe there will be many stops and starts depending on the national program’s fortune. I don’t see it, though, as a dynamic well run money making venture. To attract a large fan base the product has to be outstanding, and without the fan base there will be little corporate support. Of course, if you have neither, the writing is on the wall.
Have you ever coached women?
No, I have never coached women, but, who knows, I may yet do that. My grand-daughter likes to kick a soccer ball when she visits. It is really a joy to me to see the delight in her face doing it.
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