BY HOWARD WALKER Observer senior reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
DESPITE coming from a footballing family, young Tahje Cooke was drawn to the sport after watching Brazilians Ronaldo and Ronaldhino strut their stuff on television.
Tahje, who is the son of Anthony Cooke who won nine of the last 10 Match Commissioner-of-the-Year awards and nephew to Kareem Cooke, a former National Under-20 captain, has just led Kingston College (KC) to victory in the ISSA Under-14 competition.
The young midfielder led from the front with a sublime finish scoring the winning goal in KC’s 1-0 victory over Jamaica College (JC) to retain their title.
With KC pressing for victory, Tahje collected a ball just outside the box and showed composure far beyond his 13 years, and struck a sweet left-footer that sailed past the outstretched hands of the JC goalkeeper. It was a goal deserving to win any final.
“I started playing football at pre school, when I saw players like Ronaldo and Ronaldhino on TV and said I wanted to try that and from that point on I started to play football,” said Tahje.
The young midfielder has not looked back since, captaining Vaz Prep in his last year after playing from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. He was also the captain of the Santos Under-13 team where they lost the final to Cavalier last season.
“I get along with the players. I talk to them a lot and they respect me as a captain,” noted Tahje, who wants to one day play professional football in Europe.
His coach Raymond ‘Stampa’ Watson believes Tahje has all the attributes that could take him very far in the game.
“He is amazing when it comes to training; the team will run three laps and he will run four. He has a very good football mind and is very coachable,” noted Watson, who has been coaching him for two years at KC.
Such is the confidence in Tahje’s leadership ability, that Watson allows him to run coaching drills during training sessions.
Having won back-to-back titles with KC, Watson believes Tahje is ready for national duties for Jamaica’s Under-15 team.
“He will be in training whether he makes the final cut or not. I gave him a thumbs up because he can also play left back,” said Watson.
His father, Anthony, said the signs were there early that his son is destined for great things in football.
“I personally think that he is destined for greatness. I saw it from a tender age,” Anthony Cooke told the Jamaica Observer.
He continued: “I remember once coaching Queens Prep and he was there kicking a ball and a gentleman asked me ‘how old is he?’ And I said ‘five’. He said he would like to see him in five year’s time because he looks like he is destined for something.”
“You can see that manifesting. When you have a 13-year-old juggling to 2,762 that is in the public domain (Facebook), but his highest right now is 3,400,” Anthony Cooke noted.
“Juggling builds your concentration. If you can juggle for half-an-hour without that ball dropping… it builds your first touch, it builds confidence and it builds composure,” he explained.
The elder Cooke, who dabbled with football as a player in Manning Cup for KC in 1990 and 1991, is seen as the lesser talent when compared to younger brother Kareem Cooke. Kareem happened to have co-captained Jamaica’s Under-20 team, which had in its ranks Ricardo Fuller, Jermaine Johnson and Leon Gordon, to name a few.
“We are not like the Bell family. They are much bigger and more into football. My side of the family is more into politics. The former Governor General of Jamaica (Sir Howard Cooke) was my grand uncle.
“But my younger brother Kareem Cooke is a talent that Jamaica didn’t really get to see and I know that my son will fulfil that promise,” said Anthony.
But life is not totally about football for Tahje and he has been making his father happy with his school work as he balances sport and education.
He has been on the honour roll at KC, having received the Helen Douglas Award for exemplary conduct and good work.
“Life at KC is very good. The atmosphere is great. It feels great to know that I captained the team and I cause them to win the final with my goal,” said Tahje.
“Right now, I am mainly concentrating on my book work. Education is important, football is not forever,” he noted.
But having played on a K back-to-back winning Under-14 team, the next step is to represent his country and Tahje has his sights set on representing Jamaica at the Under-15 level.
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A Cooke with a taste for Brazilian-flavoured football
