Najjar wants improvement

HANNIBAL NAJJAR, ex-Trinidad and Tobago football team coach, is calling for an improvement in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL). Najjar was speaking in an interview during his recent visit home from his residence in Missouri, United States. “I’ll like to see the schools league place more emphasis on developing players,” he said. “I’m stressing academic excellence,” Najjar said. “Ninety-eight percent of American athletes have a university degree and I’ll like to see that we produce a more holistically developed student/athlete. That is really a main area we should concentrate on,” he said. Najjar spent six months as TT coach, from late-October 2002 until resigning his post in early April 2003, after the team failed to advance to the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

But he is high in praise of the work being done by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) Technical Director Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips. “He’s heading in the right direction. I want him to get the support (generally) and I think he’s an unselfish giver who has a lot to bring to the table,” Najjar said. Najjar, who also served as coach of the TT’s Under-17, Under-20, Under-21 and Under-23 teams during the 1980s, is currently working at Living Word Christian College in St Louis, Missouri. After returning to the US following his TT stint, the 52-year-old taught physical education, health and biblical studies at the Missouri institute and, in 2004, he took over the football programme at the school.

The team won 23 out of 27 matches that year and finished second in the Missouri Christian Schools League, losing out to Blue Ridge Christian Academy. In 2005, the Living Word squad won the State Championship after winning 21 out of 23 encounters. Najjar expressed his delight with the team’s displays since he took over the reins, and also runs football camps at the school. He said he is involved with a legal firm called Crown Sports and Entertainment Management Limited. The group develops and promotes professional athletes in football, basketball and baseball. After earning his Masters of Business Administration at Linden Wood University in St Charles, Missouri, Najjar is now pursuing his Masters of Education at the same institute.