Latapy lists determination, passion as values for success

This was Latapy’s message on the third day of the Flow Secondary Schools Leadership Symposium at Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s on Wednesday.

Latapy said, “Never give up, if you get knock down five times, you get back up six.

I want everybody to understand firstly that there is no magic remedy for success. Whatever we need, we have to work towards.” Latapy explained his ups and downs as a professional footballer in Europe, which saw him play in Scotland and Portugal. Latapy said he was offered a twoyear contract by Bradford City in England as a 16-year-old, but could not accept the contract because he could not get a work permit due to a lack of experience playing at national level.

“What I want to say is that in life you always get knock backs, there were a couple of knock backs in that story if you listen carefully.

When I went to Bradford City I got offered a two-year contract, but I did not get the opportunity to take it up so that was a knock back. Like I mentioned before, it is not how many times you get knocked down, it is how many times you could get back up.” Latapy said giving up and returning to Trinidad was never on his mind. “It was easy if I said at the time I cannot do it out there, I want to go back home. That was never an option for me simply because the passion and the drive that I had in my life was only tunnel vision.

“I knew if I came back home then I would go back to playing in the local leagues, which for me at the time was not good enough.”