One photo said it all.
Wide young eyes locked on a grown-up in the foreground. Eager teens, some looking younger than that – and most getting their first taste of the pro game that night, listened intently. It’s not a classroom (exactly) nor is Neveal Hackshaw a teacher (precisely). He’s the Oakland Roots captain who, at 28, is worlds wiser – and he outlined the way forward on a hard night in the East Bay.
“For some it was their first time playing in the Open Cup and in the first team too, so it’s tough,” said Hackshaw, born in the heart of the Caribbean in the southern corner of Arima on the island of Trinidad, out amid the doubles stands near the Piarco Airport. “I had to keep them calm and motivated. To let them know they belong here and don’t sweat it if you make a mistake.
“We’re all in this together,” he added.
This, right here, is the essence of Oakland Roots, the second-division USL Championship side founded in 2018 who, simply, ooze cool. Steeped in the radical love of the area, with brotherhood at its core, each one teach one is the unspoken bond around Pioneer Stadium.
Hackshaw is a sturdy defender, 30 times capped for his national team. He’s kicked around a bit in the USA’s lower leagues, through Charleston and Indianapolis after an apprenticeship as a youngster in the fires of the T&T Premier League in Port of Spain. You learn quick on the streets around the neighborhood of La Horquetta where he grew up, and in Trinidad’s Hasely Crawford Stadium, where he played for North East Stars. So being down early in an Open Cup Third Rounder, trailing the talented amateurs of El Farolito, wouldn’t rattle him. He’s been in and out of enough close calls to know circumstances are made to be changed by those with the guts to change them.
Young & Old
But the young ones – thrilled by the call-up and full of energy – are a different story. Their slates are clean. A hiccup can grow, nerves can take over, and, before you know it, your Cup run can be done on the wrong side of an upset. There were five of those kids, prospects from the club’s academy and talent lab known as Project 510, on the bench that night.
