media_artricles :: 2013

The coach

... from Gasparillo Giving back to the children

Reach...touch...swing...throw. The sport of rugby is as simple as these steps according to Pantor.

She is sitting in the pavilion of the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva and waiting for her rugby summer camp sessions to commence. The Gasparillo resident is writing notes in a copy book. “I always write out my sessions just before the day starts. I like to be organised. I take my sport seriously,” Pantor informs me still looking down at her game plan. Soon, the children start trickling in. “How did you get into rugby?” I ask, assuming that she played the sport as a child. The tall, athletic woman smiles and I get the impression that her answer may take a while. “Hold on, I will explain everything, let me just get the children started,” she says and with that she gets her two assistant coaches in gear for an energetic Thursday session in the blistering sun. The boys and girls are eager and happy to learn the drills. “Stretch properly...” her words are instructive but not intimidating.

After ten minutes Pantor sits once more. “Hmmm, where do I begin? I have always loved rugby. My husband, Willet, plays rugby both locally and internationally and because of this my children and I were exposed to the game very early. For each game I would cook and pack a picnic basket and my daughter, two sons and I would be my husband’s biggest fans. We learned the game by watching him play as a winger. Boy he had real speed, when he get that ball on the wing nobody could stop him. Then my two boys, Geron and Leon began to play and eventually Nicolette, my daughter joined the crew. My family became a rugby family but I was the missing link. I was the spectator and somehow I got the feeling that my place was the field too,” the dedicated mother declares. She interrupts the interview to advise her charges: “Come on, swing your arms more to pass the ball, remember it’s a sideways pass not a forward pass.” She then gets back into her story: “Sorry about that, just that I feel obligated to teach them the right skills from young, because when you form bad habits early in sports it not easy to break later on in the game!”

It is glaring that the level two certified rugby coach really knows her game. She is dressed in a team T-Shirt and track pants and her enthusiasm on the stands speaks a thousand words. “You're feeling to put on your boots and run on the field?” I ask. “Girl, if you weren’t here I would be running up and down on the field. But let me finish my story. So I get this vibes that I supposed to be involved in the rugby more than dropping the children off to training or wiping their boots or cheering for my husband. I am from Gasparillo but I was born and bred in Marabella. In my area there are a lot of poor and underprivileged children. Children to single parents, children whose parents can’t even afford food and clothes much more for leisure and sports equipment. So a friend of the family, Ronald Silverton, a former national rugby player who plays with Caribs Rugby team decided to start Exiles Rugby Youth Club and I jumped on board as the president, manager and everything else. It was my opportunity to be part of rugby and give back to children in the community. I used to work in a seamstress accessory store before but this coaching job felt like my calling, my dream job, my purpose because I always loved working with children,” exudes (add two more titles) the team cook and counsellor. I learn that she was raised in a single parent home where she had to help her mother raise her three siblings.

Her childhood was no different to the impoverished children she coached. Pantor never had much opportunity in sport nor did she enjoy simple pleasures growing up. For this reason she wanted to create a haven of chances and dreams for the children of her community. “I see Simone as a little girl when I see the stories of these children. We have about 95 children in the programme, boys and girls from seven to 17. I coach the girls and the Under-14 boys. Sometimes my heart bleeds for these children. They come to practice at the Vos Recreation Grounds on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays sometimes without food, without passage or even without a boots or shoes. I feel so happy to provide them with these things. Occasionally it would come from club funds and other times from my pocket but the warm feeling I get when I see them playing the sport and abandoning all their home problems to live their dream in rugby, my heart heals and I know that I am making a difference in their lives.” Pantor says.

“Coach, I am not feeling well,” a little girl informs approaching her concerned coach. “Okay honey, just sit next to me and see if you feel better. As a coach you have to play many roles. You have to be a mother, friend, counsellor, a disciplinarian...” Pantor interrupts the conversation and shouts on the field: “Boy, don’t foul your partner, that is not the game, play the game the right way, you know you not supposed to do that.” Taking a deep breath she states:

“Same thing I telling you. Girl sport is a good way for children to learn discipline. At Exiles we have children coming from all over Gasparillo. Whiteland, Springland and Train Line and even from my street, Hungermarch. Some people condemn these areas but the truth is there is talent everywhere, you just have to have God’s wisdom to seek it out and nurture it. Some of these children choose rugby over the street life, over crime. Playing in tournaments actually gives them more focus and they are better behaved and do better in school. Just recently we came third in a tournament. Girl these children going places, some of them are even playing on the National Under-17 rugby team!”

Water break! A tall teenager walks up towards Pantor and hands her a cup of water. “This is Nicolette, my daughter. She is 18 years old and she plays for the Trinidad and Tobago National Rugby Team. She toured to Las Vegas, Texas and other countries with the team. She and my two sons are my pride and joy. Nicollete is an assistant coach with Exiles,” Pantor comments proudly.

Indeed, Nicollte is a younger version of her mother. “I pass through many challenges in my life. Back in the earlies I never thought that I would make it in this, life, I felt overwhelmed as if I didn’t have it in me to accomplish my goals. Now as I am working with the children and steering the wheel for Exiles I feel so empowered. The sky is now my limit. It’s as if God has revealed his plan for me and I am now living it.” her misty eyes make me realise that Exiles’ existence goes deeper than rugby, much deeper than a Gasparillo children’s sports team. It is a sanctuary of hope for not only its woman of business but for the children who benefit from its programmes. “I want to take these children all over the world as rugby ambassadors for T&T,” she claims. “Rugby is such a beautiful game and it’s so simple!” “Reach, touch, swing, throw?” I tease. “Yes of course, just add in some prayers for a safe game, a good diet and some determination and you may just be playing the sport in your prime like me (I play games with my girls’ team),” Pantor concludes and with that she puts on her boots and joins her Summer Camp session.

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