Dear Editor – The reality of Solomon soccer has been put to the knife.
Morning of mixed emotions covers the nation.
Even the will to believe has evaporated. That’s when reality strikes. The two legged tie has already been decided.
Come Tuesday, it’s all matters of formalities.
Collectively, the New Zealand teamare miles ahead from their counterpart though they are not as skillful as our boys.
Solomon Islands for too long has been banking on the performance of individuals, but would not fight together as a unit.
And that has been our problem ever since.
Personally, I feel that our biggest devil is not written on soccer textbooks or DVDs or get more qualified coaches abroad.
While all these are necessary for the developmental aspect of soccer, the heart of the matter is left untouched and it has been for years.
My take on Friday night’s game is that Solomon Islands needs to develop the psychological part of the game.
We need to have our players motivated on “all fronts” for such an occasion especially on the world stage.
Our players can perform when the pressure is low but often times when demand calls for psychosocial strength we fall succumbed floor-ward as seen Friday.
Look at when we win the ball, it does not take 30 seconds and we lost the ball again.
And all we did was chasing shadows. So much for the Brazilians of the Pacific.
Talking about personal attributes such as handling and controlling the ball, I have no doubt that our boys are master in their art.
But putting those PERSONAL attributes into the TEAM effort is our biggest urchin.
Thus, I call on responsible people to think about the ‘social makeups’ of our players, their ‘personal attributes’ and their ‘up bringing’ not just their soccer talents if we are to make positive history.
Having said that, we need qualified Solomon Islands-tailored psychologist to cheer, encourage, motivate and stimulate our boys every once in a while when they are in camp leading up to the big day.
I have proven this when I was one of the supporters who frequented the Malaita Eagles Camp during the recent Solomon Cup.
When the boys were here they literally have no money, no beddings, no food and not more than 5 people actually visited them in camp.
And to be honest, that has A LOT of impact on the boys.
The boys when they are here for the tournament are little chicks but when they went back they are huge and ferrous eagles ready to attack any prey knocking on their door.
What made them changed in about 14 days?
I believe one of the most important and powerful tools that their management used is “allow Solomon Islands-tailored psychologist” who came and give a 10-30 minutes psychological shakeup talk.
After every talk one can tell that the boys were truly up for something and anything.
And they made their province proud by lifting the SC trophy.
SI because of our diversity we need someone who is a master of our SI context and Football and be able to put these two different worlds into one basket and deliver it to the boys.
As a soccer fanatic, I too want to see Solomons excel into world stages that is why I’m starting a development team in East Honiara called, Football Club of Juniper.
By Peter Ramofolo
Honiara
