An Amandala interview with Charles Hogan, visiting from Los Angeles, California, on Monday, October 2, 2017, on 3304 Partridge Street.
Amandala (A): Alright… alright, Hogan…Yo prove yoself (You proved yourself)!
Hogan (H): So… after that I went and formed the Warriors.
Part 9
A: Okay… about what year was that when you formed the Warriors?
H: Okay… that was around 79-80… that’s when the Warriors started travelling.
A: So, you put together some of the same Belize guys… under your management… your own coaching/ management system..
H: Yes… because, one of the main factors that I wanted was to put a set of guys together who want to travel… who want to go wherever, whenever, whichever… and from there it became history… 35 years of Warriors…
A: I’ve heard that name a lot… and always I’ve heard that Hogan has a team… and Hogan is going here or there… and you came to Belize… you brought a team to Belize too, right?
H: That was in ’83, after we finished winning the most competitions in the Municipal League… I mean, we had just come second in the competition, and then we won the Mayor’s Cup… and then we went to Chicago, and we beat Chicago and New York in one day, to prove that we were… we were for real…
A: The Warriors from L.A… But you mentioned this Municipal… the Municipal League was like a second or third division or what? …
H: No, no, no… it was the best league in California… it was the best City league…
A: In the amateurs…
H: Yaa, in the amateur level… If the pros are looking for players… then they would go and pick from that league…
A: So, the only top team from L.A. would be like the L.A. Galaxy or so, no?…
H: Yes… there was only one pro team around that time in L.A… it wasn’t like now… now you have a lot of choices…
A: So, since you left Belize in ’73, have you been visiting any time over the years?
H: Yes.. I came here in 1983…
A: Yaa… I know you came in ’83 with Warriors… but since then?
H: And then we came back in ’87… The Warriors came again in ’87… around celebration time…
(Press Cadogan interjects): That’s when Ricky Gongora scored the 5 goals on Warriors…
H: No… Ricky Gongora didn’t set no… we… we came at the wrong time… around September… We thought the celebration meant nothing to us… but that was wrong… I couldn’t control the guys… mein, everybody wanted to be with that Punta Rock… every night there was something at the Fort… I couldn’t keep them in the barracks… for what?… I mean, that would be just selfish of me…
A: (laughs) Yaa.. we can’t count that… Dehn cohn home… tek unu licking! We no wahn come around celebration time next time… we no wahn bring team ‘round dehn ya time…
H: (laughs)
A: Alright…. well, that’s great, mein… so you’ve been holding a team together in L.A. for all these years…
H: All those years… So, I just stepped back a little bit now, you know… and I’m watching all the teams in L.A. … and, I usually go around and give them advice… and make sure that they do the right thing… I’m not trying to take them over… because I’ve been doing it so long, mein… and it’s a lot of work and sacrifice… I give other managers the choice to feel what it feels like to mold and manage a team… I hear them crying and crying… but I know what the crying is all about…
A: You had to discipline any of them at any time during your time as a team manager?
H: Well, I take a little out of Don-D book… I mean… Rupert (“Canalete” Anderson), before he passed away, said, “Hogan is alright; but when he start stuttering… you got to watch him…”
A: i di geh bex (He is getting angry.)
H: Because i done di get vex and i might do something… because then he kyan bring out the words. (laughs)
A: (laughs) Yea, yea…you need discipline…
H: You know, I have to give account of that… I mean, I’m not perfect… but sometimes I get physical with players… who don’t want to discipline themselves… because if I… I can’t manage a team if I got guys that’s not… that try to break up discipline… and I learned that from the Police Force… My discipline comes from them… and some of the training I put into that… I use in my weapon in training guys…
A: Well, that’s the foundation of any great team… you have to have discipline…
H: Yaa, discipline and respect… Yaa… we be all over the United States… and if I don’t have discipline, I won’t be able to take a team with a whole bus load of people… a plane full of guys… because if we say let’s move, we mean let’s move… lets go, let’s go… This is the way the game go’n play… this is the way it’s go’n play…
A: You have family in L.A.?
H: Yes, yes…
A: They put up with you and your…
H: Oh, yes… my family is very supportive… and I have a committee too of ladies who support me in all my endeavors.
A: You have children?
H: Three… two daughters and one son.. in L.A.
A: Hogan… It has been a good opportunity to get to hear from you personally… after hearing about you so much over the years… You’ve seen a little bit of football here since you’ve been in Belize… you have any little word of advice for the youths you see about?
H: Well, I mean… I’m thankful for this opportunity… and I’m glad you asked me that question… because, you know, I’m excited right now with all the… being here… and all the questions… because you know football is my life…
(The finale – Part 10 in next issue)