00:00Where would you go to find dancers? In a ballroom or a football field? Every bounce adds a new rhythm.
00:07And who is the orchestrator behind this tune? Former national playmaker Akilah Molon.
00:13She has mastered a symphony of moves in her prime on the big stage.
00:17Now, her new sermon involves a graceful introduction to this twinkle-toe generation.
00:22Not every coach can coach at this level. At that level, a patient, because you will have different players that
00:27come in with different skill set, different attitude.
00:30Different backgrounds, different things. And I think what helps me a lot in that area is my degree is in
00:35psychology.
00:36So I studied psychology when I went on my scholarship.
00:38So now I can pair my academic background with the football and kind of bring it together and get through
00:45these kids.
00:46So the biggest thing I've learned over the years is how to be patient at the graduate level.
00:50It's a daily tradition, baking new bread, ensuring that every slice brings a tasty bite,
00:56so that when the time comes, they can feast on the errors of their opponents.
01:01At the same time, they admire the tapestry of tools used to harness talent by Molon and her team, which
01:07includes Khadija Debiset.
01:09To be honest with you, I'm a kind of humble person in the sense where I'm coaching these players to
01:14surpass me.
01:16Because for me, I played school, I played national, I played college, but never played in a World Cup.
01:23So my ambition now is to coach a player that would play in a World Cup.
01:27Still, while the newbies find their footing, there are some people that would give their all to see her play
01:33again.
01:34Russell Latipi played until he was mid-40s or so. You know what question is coming?
01:39I think I know what's the question. For me, yeah, I'm in my 40s as well. I don't feel like
01:44that.
01:44Certainly don't feel like that. But yeah, I currently play in women's league with Trent Centre Hawks.
01:49I set a young players. Most of them, youth 16, if you look at them, they are playing in the
01:53youth women's league under-17s.
01:55So I transitioned this year from playing with club sandal to them.
01:59So for me, I think my role right now is just to be a leader to them.
02:03While she's untangled her laces from the national team, she still has dreams of going to the World Cup as
02:08a coach.
02:09If that's God's will, I'll coach a national team to our World Cup, for sure, because that's one of my
02:14goals.
02:14Or I'll coach players that are playing in our World Cup.
02:18Now she says her students are repaying her with kindness, even when the path is not all clear.
02:23Like I said, everybody's fighting their own battles, and my mother both kidneys are gone, so now she's doing dialysis.
02:29So now transitioning to on the field to now being in Monctope about three times per week, you know, watching
02:37my mother go through that process.
02:38I think one of the greatest things is not pretty much on the field, but being able to come in
02:42contact with great individuals like that now who could now help me in an area where my mother has been
02:48my inspiration.
02:49She indicated it was a character-defining experience.
02:53Wow, it's matured me a lot from not being able to, being honest, not being able to be around sick
02:59individuals on a day-to-day basis to now being around them three times per week for four hours.
03:06You know, like I said, I know a lot of people are not aware of dialysis, but that's pretty much
03:11taking all the blood out of their body and purifying it and putting it back in.
03:14So to be able to see these strong individuals in this kind of situation, I think, helped me have a
03:21greater appreciation for my health.
03:22The bride of football has therefore hit the sweet spot with maturity.
03:26Leave it to this Londonville playmaker to find a way now to marry her years of experience to the zeal
03:33of a younger fellow at the M12 Academy.
Comments