Young football talent credits dad’s guidance
It’s ten days until Father’s Day and the community group Imagine Bermuda is taking the occasion to celebrate the special role that fathers play in their children’s lives.
To begin the series, the group’s head Glenn Fubler has nominated footballer Troy Lewis and his son Zeiko Lewis, who is in Guatemala playing for Bermuda in a World Cup qualifier.
Football runs deep in the Lewis family: Fred “Pinks” Lewis, Eversley Lewis and Leroy “Nibs” Lewis are a few storied names in the local history of the sport.
Troy Lewis had a deal with his wife, Nicole: he got to name Zekiah, their daughter, now 14; Mrs Lewis chose Zeiko for their son, now 21 — and the names would be kept a secret until their birth.
“Being a football family, it was almost putting pressure on him,” Mr Lewis said, explaining that Zeiko’s name harks to the Brazilian legend Zico, also known as “the White Pelé”.
He said he’d wondered: “What if he doesn’t like football or can’t play it?”
Zeiko has gone on to become one of Bermuda’s rising stars in the sport, and he credits his inner strength and patience to the steady guidance of his father throughout his life.
“Sports definitely is an easy bond for a father and son, especially if they both like the same sport,” Mr Lewis said. “It also causes some rivalry as well.”
Zeiko acknowledged the two have had their “ups and downs — especially when I was growing up. My dad always wanted to come to my games and he was my coach at times,” Zeiko said.
As a youngster he occasionally resented his father’s counsel, but “at the end of the day it was good advice. I used to be a crybaby when I was younger, and I was a sore loser,” Zeiko said.
His father advised him that it was a game, and taught him to hold schoolwork on the same level as sport so that he excelled academically.
“Through sports, I learnt how to be patient and not just jump into things straight away,” he said.
As the senior Lewis explained: “A lot of the things in sport happen off the field, which then help create what you can do on the field. Not always are the best players the best persons for the team.”
Bermuda’s smallness can make the Island a difficult environment for raising a son, he added. “They’re not exposed to the bigger picture, the opportunities that can come if they prepare themselves.” For Zeiko, the experience came at the Berkshire School in western Massachusetts where he attended high school, acquiring the grades along with the sporting skills.
He now attends Boston College, where he is studying marketing.
Asked which of them was the better footballer, Mr Lewis said: “I am the best! No — Zeiko is better. He’s learnt how to be a very good player. If he keeps the attitude he has, he will know both sides of the game — when you’re on the field and off the field.”
The difficulty of fatherhood, he said, was “the thin line between wanting to give discipline and direction, but not being the person they despise because you’re always trying to keep them on the straight and narrow”.
“I am one of those that truly believe that a parent does not want to be a friend,” Mr Lewis said, recalling how being a sore loser had hampered him as a younger man.
“My attitude held me back. It stopped me from playing on the national team. There’s a fine line between having passion for the game and being a sore loser.”
Zeiko said that when he was growing up, “I was always taught to be more worried about what could happen to me if I wasn’t on my best behaviour. You never knew who was watching you. Either be on your best behaviour, or you could lose everything.” That included the company that he kept.
Mr Lewis reflected that fatherhood meant being a role model.
“You never know when somebody else is looking up to you,” he said. “It could even be one of your friends, who might not have had a father in their life but looks to their friends as a role model.”
Mr Fubler said: “There is no more heroic task than that called on for fathers playing a role in the lives of children.
“While that heroism may not be the kind found in movies, the reality of the courage of fathers, transforms lives.”
“There is no more heroic task than that called on, for fathers playing a role in the lives of children,” said Glenn Fubler of the group Imagine Bermuda.
“While that heroism may not be the kind found in movies, the reality of the courage of fathers, transforms lives. Imagine Bermuda and the Family Centre are joining the Bermuda National Library in celebrating this role in the week leading up to Father’s Day on June 21.
“There are many ways to observe the significance of the role of fathering. We are suggesting that one such means could be for fathers and their children to attend the upcoming football game to be held at the National Stadium on Monday, June 15 — National Heroes Day. We note also that there will be group rates available for the game.
“In addition, we are collaborating with the print media to have a variety of local personalities to share stories and reflections on the significance of fathering. The idea is to promote a conversation, moving beyond the boxes of the past and to inspire all of us involved in fathering, with the view to leveraging the capacity of upcoming generations.
“A goal of this initiative is to facilitate the empowerment of fathers and mentors in their promotion of the development of children. This includes updating them on the support systems available, in this regard. One way is for fathers, mentors and children to register or renew membership in the Bermuda Library over this period.
“A draw prize is being offered for those attending the library over the next two weeks and attendees will receive information about free online educational features that will support families in optimising the potential of adults and children who take advantage.”
