Derrick’s determination

Derrick Simon is the national track and field coach, and is also a certified track and field coach, Ironman coach, and cycling coach. From a humble start to life, he presents a story of pure determination, discipline, and a single-minded focus on always progressing. He shares his journey with Associate Editor Simone Delochan.

SD: Could you tell me a little about your background?

DS: I grew up in La Puerta Avenue [Diego Martin]. We had a house, which is where I presently live, but renovated, on a hill. Back in the day, we had challenges. It was about 100 steps we had to walk up. We had water problems. We had an outside toilet until we renovated. We grew up with humble beginnings. My dad and my mom progressed us so that we could be comfortable. I cannot say that I was extremely deprived. We were always a family that focused on education. I had six siblings: three boys, three girls.

Back in those days, the community was very supportive. It was like a village environment. We weren’t exposed to crime. We would walk around, play on the hills, and go to the river, and catch wabine. But as I started to get older, the element started to creep in. It started to get a little more challenging when I was like 9, 10, 11 years old. That’s when the drugs and gangs started.

But my mom was a strict disciplinarian, and we had some serious boundaries regarding when we were to go out, how late to come back home.

My dad had passed when I was 12 years old. That left a void in my life and my siblings and my mom. My mom really took it on. We had moved to Diamond Vale, and it was my mom and my brother, my twin brother. We were on our own for a while. A lot of times she would be away. She would go to England by my dad’s sister.

We often were on our own for six weeks, two months, but had support from our sisters who also lived in Diamond Vale. We learned to be self-reliant. Really, I think that was a catalyst for us to understand to be mature from a young age.

SD: But how did you manage to stay out of trouble as a teenager?

I knew my mom was already under stress, and I told myself I did not want to add any additional stress. I took it upon myself to ensure that I behaved in school (Diego Martin Secondary). I did my work; I did chores. My regime was every Friday evening, I would come home and as a rule, clean the entire house, go outside, cut the grass, wash down the entire yard and make sure that my mom didn’t have that additional type of work and stress that a mom will have with a normal teenage boy. She never had to worry about me getting in trouble.

Diamond Vale and La Puerta were the same environments for elements. Diamond Vale had the same type of drugs, the same type of gangs because it was close to Covigne Road and River Estate and Bagatelle.

I saw children, my peers, who were on drugs, who were drinking alcohol, going out, partying all the time, not doing schoolwork. I just didn’t want to give my mom that type of pressure. I wanted something better for myself.

SD: Emerging out of that, what philosophy did you have that guided you to where you are now?

DS: One, they called me ‘Smiley’. I love to smile. I love to have a nice, calming environment around me. But I also understood that in life, you have to progress. You have to try to make better for yourself. I am one of the most certified coaches in the Caribbean. Everything that I have done in my life, I try to do it at my best. My first job that I had, I went to work for four years, and did not miss a day. I did not reach to work late. I tried not to have anything within my environment that was going to be counterproductive to me.

SD: When you encounter seemingly insurmountable challenges or areas you did not deem a success, how did you progress?

DS: One of the things that really supported me throughout my life is my connection to God. That was also one of the factors for me to be a progressive young boy and be disciplined and have good behaviour and support my mom because she always instilled in us godliness.

I always saw God as a person looking over and taking note of what I was doing, and I didn’t want to disappoint Him as well. I have always had a relationship with God. I fully believe that there’s something after life, and here is just a stepping stone.

When I have challenges, I will always pray. Those are the times that I pray the most. It calms me. It gives me clarity to make decisions and to make good decisions because in that situation, you can’t make bad decisions. You can’t be praying and asking God to help you and make a bad decision.

SD: Tell me about your journey to becoming a coach.

DS: I played football from young at a high level in my schools. I started doing bodybuilding in my 20s while I was going to UWI. I’ve always had a connection with being fit for the journey of my life. I got disconnected a bit when I was a promoter. I realised at that point in time, as I was ageing, it was something that was not positive for me because my dream has always been that when I turn 50, I’m supposed to be as healthy as I was in my 20s. I removed myself from that environment in my early 40s, and I started training.

I gravitated to starting a running club with my brother, and we did that for some years. Then I started One a Week Multisport because I told myself, I wanted something other than running. I went into triathlon. I was not a cyclist. I had to find a cycling coach. I found it difficult to find coaches who could have really given me the type of support that I wanted. I told myself, I’m going to get certified.

My first certification was my USA Level 1 Triathlon Certification in St Croix. I really got that certification to give me knowledge. Then some parents came and asked me to coach their children. I was the Head Coach of the National Triathlon team for four years.

A lot of parents brought in their athletes, and it just moved from there. I want to give them the best coaching as possible because it took me back to the place when I was looking for a coach, and I wasn’t getting coaches that I believe that could have taken me to where I wanted to go because of a lack of knowledge.

I have done at least 18, 19 certifications. I’m a certified track and field coach, Ironman coach, cycling coach. I am now the national track and field coach.

SD: And your becoming a motivational speaker? A natural progression from working with young people?

DS: Yes, it was a natural growth. I think the significance of that growth grew from my youth academy. I did a coaching programme in Kenya for two months. I moved away from triathlon to get into track and field because it was a little more engaging for me. I went to Kenya to educate myself at the highest level. I asked one of the coaches who was at the training camp, Coach Ian Kiprono, who is now my mentor, what makes a Kenyan different to all the other athletes in the world. He said, their desire to make something better for themselves and their family.

On the flight from Nairobi to Heathrow, I thought about it, and I said, that is very correct. I said, I need to go into the communities. It will help with two things.

One, I’m going to get kids who are a little more resilient and I’m going to help kids to give them an opportunity to make something better for themselves.

I went into the primary schools in Diego Martin. Mr Noel of Diego Martin RC, he was the one of the principals that really greeted me with open arms and bought into it. I did a talent search in his school. I had about 100 athletes come and try out to make this team.

Out of the 100 athletes, I selected 25. Out of the 25, I selected 13 athletes. Out of the 13 athletes, 11 had single parents. So not only were their kids athletically inclined, but I wanted to support an environment so they would have a pathway to make something better for themselves. And not only through to achieving something in sport but having somebody to guide them with regards to building good character and discipline.

I financed everything. I bought gear for them. I would give them money for travelling. I did that for three years. The only private company that supported me was Blue Waters. But 90 per cent of it was my financial burden, and I had no problem with it. I never wanted to ask anybody.

Many people offered and told me, you must do fundraisers. I thought to myself, no, this is something I want to do. I don’t have any children. I wanted to make them my children, my responsibility, because when I was younger, I wanted somebody who could have stepped in and guide me. My teachers did that. But I have to give blessings and props to one of my sisters, Camlyn Beard. She was like my second mother throughout my entire life. She guided me to keep educating myself. Up to this day, she still motivates me. And my wife Rebeka keeps me grounded and has the hard conversations with me when necessary.

Eight of the 11 are national athletes, and the others are not there because they’re now ageing in, and then they’re going to be on the national team next year. This is almost seven years going forward. They are beautiful young men and women with character, very disciplined, resilient individuals.

The club, One a Week Youth Academy, grew from 13 athletes to now about 95 athletes. It is the most prominent youth academy in Trinidad. My club had eight athletes on the CARIFTA national team. Everybody now gravitates to bring their children to learn these tools and principles. I want to ensure that these kids that I took on in my care, that I promised to them and their parents that I’m going to give them a pathway, that I, in fact, do that.

SD: We have a crisis with young men now. If you had a group of these young men in front of you, what advice would you give them?

DS: I will tell them, which speaks to building character, always when you have a decision to make, pause and always try to figure out what is good and what is not so good. What is the decision you are going to make? How is that going to affect you? How is it going to affect your parents? How is it going to affect people around you?

It’s a process that you have to stay connected to for your journey through adolescence and for the rest of your life. You need to pause and understand. You need to start being very mindful of the decisions that you make, and especially when they are daily decisions, but especially when you have challenges.

Club: One a Week Youth Academy

Gym: Pace and Performance Factory

Website: Coachderricksimon.com

IG: coach_derrick_simon