We lost our bag with the recorded interview on January 20, and, praise God and our beautiful Belizean people, we got it back on February 13. There has been a new development since we did the interview. Ruperto Vicente now heads one of the slates challenging Bertie Chimilio, replacing Sergio Chuc, who will contest for a vice-president post. Both Ruperto and Sergio are very familiar to present day footballers; not so Speedy, which is why we did the interview. Some areas of the tape are difficult to decipher because of noise interference, but we have done our best to reproduce our conversation as it happened:-
(in Kremandala yard, under the coconut tree, around 10:15 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Wednesday, January 18, 2012.)
Okay, let’s see how I can do this now. First of all, I would say that Gerald “Speedy” Henry is a name familiar to myself and to many older football players and fans, not necessarily to the younger generation of footballers.
Football (has) been through a whole lot of crisis over the years, and I think the general sentiment across the country is (that) we need a change.
The point right now, after some turbulent elections under an Electoral Committee appointed by the present FFB administration, that has been sort of topsy turvy,… but there is a hope, a strong hope and feeling that there can be a change in the leadership of the FFB, finally, after 12 years of Mr. Bertie Chimilio as the President.
(There is) a lot of dissatisfaction amongst the (members of the) football community.
Presently, we have two separate slates of candidates being proposed to challenge Mr. Chimilio’s presidency.
One, the most recent one, is (led by) Mr. Sergio Chuc, who most people know was the manager/owner of Verdes, who were the (national) champions a couple years ago; and he was also the last Chairman, Acting-Chairman of the BPFL, which ended its competition in 2011 (before completion), when they withdrew from the FFB. Sergio has recently put together a slate to also challenge for the presidency of the FFB.
The other slate, which has been discussed for some time, is led by Mr. Gerald “Speedy” Henry.
Myself, I know Speedy from football in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s with the Avengers football team. But that’s as much as I knew of Speedy Henry. But it was enough for me to have a lot of respect for him, the way I saw him play, and conduct himself in football.
Recently, I have gathered some more information, and I just thought that footballers, the football family, and people considering the situation, especially the district associations’ people, and the new league, who will make a decision later on, need to look at Speedy’s candidacy, I think, seriously, and consider where he is coming from, so they can make….
(A document)…. here on Speedy, with just the bare outline from a leaflet prepared for his candidacy, refers to him as a “well known football star on the famous Rocking-R and the Mighty Avengers from the Cayo District in the 1970s’.” He has “organized numerous football tournaments for district teams in the Cayo District during the early ‘80’s.” And “as an administrator/manager, served in the Government Public Service for thirty-eight (38) years,” first as “Clerk of Court; Magistrate/District Officer in Corozal, Toledo and Cayo districts; and served for eighteen (18) years as Permanent Secretary/Chief Executive Officer in the Ministries of Works & Transport, Banana & Citrus, Housing, and Public Service.”
But, all that aside, from a footballer’s perspective, the question a regular ‘baller, a person involved with the sport now, a person hungry for change in football would want to get an idea, first of all, who, who is “Speedy” Henry? This person that some older heads are saying, “Bwai, dis da di man, really fi turn football ‘round fi wi right now.” Who is Speedy Henry? Where is he from? You know, give us some background.
Amandala (A): Speedy, let’s go to the beginning. Where are you from?
Speedy (S): I am from San Ignacio, Cayo District. And… I started playing football at age sixteen (16), in major league football at age sixteen. And I played the sport for twenty (20) years.
A: In San Ignacio?
S: San Ignacio and all over the country.
A: But you lived in San Ignacio.
S: I lived in San Ignacio, all my life. I have lived there, but, because I was a public officer, there were times when, during that public service career, I was transferred to Toledo, …
A: You’ve been a public officer during all your career?
S: Yes, all my career; one employment, and that is with the public service.
A: Okay, so you started playing at sixteen. You recall the first team you played for?
S: Western District.
A: But you had a high school….
S: Yes, I did a year out in Belize City, here at Wesley College; because at that time we didn’t have any high school in Cayo. So I came to Wesley College.
A: What year would that be?
S: It would have been 1961, I think.
A: Okay, before the hurricane?
S: Yes, yes.
A: Because we had a devastating hurricane (Hattie) in October of that year.
S: Yes; I was here in 1961 (before the hurricane), but I went back home after speaking with one of the teachers at Sacred Heart.
During that time frame there, Sacred Heart, the doors were opened there for a high school. And so, being from that area, one day I was with one of my friends, and he introduced me to one of the teachers. And he asked me… they were also trying to put together a football team at the secondary school level… because at that time they had SJC, they had Xavier College from Corozal, they had Lynam at the time, and so they were trying to put together a team, but a lot of them were not football players, as such. So, when the teacher heard that I played the game, he asked, “Well, why are you going to Wesley College, when you can go to Sacred Heart?”
And I said to him, “Look; finances. At Wesley College you get all your books free.”
A: What?
S: At that time all your books were free. The tuition, I think, was ten dollars a month.
A: You had relatives in Belize City that you stayed with?
S: I had an aunt here that I stayed with. She was living around by Racecourse Street. So I said to him, you know, “I can’t afford to buy books,” because, you know, I…
A: What was your father doing in….?
S: This is the part I was about to tell you. I grew up without a father. It’s only my mother who raised me. She used to sell…
A: Your father died early, or he just went away…?
S: They parted ways from I was young, and…
A: You don’t recall him?
S: No. I don’t recall him at all. I don’t recall him. He left, and he went to teach in Guatemala. And I think the problem arose because my mother didn’t want to go to Guatemala to live at that time; and so they just parted ways. So…
A: He was a Belizean?
S: Yes. So, my brother, Lloyd Henry…
A: How many brothers you have?
S: One.
A: Any sisters?
S: No sister. Just one brother.
A: Lloyd is older than you?
S: No; I am older.
A: That name sounds familiar. Is that a church man..?
S: Lloyd is the priest.
A: Okay, okay…
S: And he used to be very athletic. In fact, he was a sprinter. They used to call him, “di Fly.”
A: Oh, yes! (laughs) Now, you said the word!… I remember that name… from the annual track meet at the MCC Grounds. I remember “di Fly.”
(To be continued in our next issue.)