Left: Peggy Castanada-Phillip at Lystra Lewis Court - 1974
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TriniView.com Reporters
Interview Recorded: March 19, 2006
Posted: March 10, 2007
TRINIVIEW.COM: What was the experience like when the team won the tournament in 1979?
PEGGY: For me it was something that I expected. It was a joyous feeling although it would have been much better if I had played. But, they never made me feel as though I wasn't a member of the team, because I was there in everything, including my views, opinions and analysis at the end of the game and so on. I am a stickler for technique, so I would see certain flaws and so on and would talk about it. Sometimes before a game I would be put in a spot when they asked me if we are going to win or lose. I was more or less on target with what I felt. It was a nice experience with the team and to see the support and pouring out of the love from the people in the country, especially when we won the tournament. It was more like a peoples' tournament. We took up the challenge because Dr. Williams told us he was giving us the complex, which was going to cost twenty-one million dollars, and all he wanted in return was the tournament. That was our motivation. We expected to win and it was a nice feeling. It was a moment I wouldn't forget because although I didn't play, what you got at the end of the tournament was important. The African countries and Grenada were the only support we had because all the other countries in the Caribbean were backing Australia or New Zealand. The game was played in the rain so we really couldn't go all out and rejoice.
I think our motivation was from things like getting the complex ready, visits to the doctor, certain supplements provided by companies, sponsorship for shoes, clothes and accommodations. We stayed at the Trinidad Hilton for the two weeks just like all the other teams. I think at the end of it all - Independence Day - was really the highlight at the awards function with all of us walking up and shaking the President's hand and getting our medals. It was good seeing our names in the Gazette as well. Jean was offered the Trinity Cross along with the Chaconia Medal. I do not know what Lystra got because she was a very private person. I think people found because it was a team effort, Lystra should have been given the Trinity Cross as well and not Jean alone. But Jean was very outstanding throughout the whole tournament so she was singled out. You really cannot give everybody the Trinity Cross. The Doc also had a special likeness for Jean, seeing her play and so on.
TRINIVIEW.COM: What medal did you receive?
PEGGY: The Chaconia Gold Medal; I think it still is the second highest award for the country. But most of all, I think it was the inscription on the medal, "Long and Meritorious Service". I felt good because it wasn't just for the tournament, but for also recognizing what we have done. Receiving the medal, although I did not play, was something that was important for me because of what came before the tournament and also what I contributed after.
TRINIVIEW.COM: You said you knew you all were going to win. What is it about that team that gave you the confidence that you all would have won the competition?
PEGGY: I think those players were just hard, tough, no nonsense and committed people. Regardless of what they did at home and so on, when they came on the court and it was time to play, they played. I think the training with the Parris brothers, Steve and Tony, who had a karate school somewhere around Rosalina Street, were responsible for our physical training. The Pan Am Sunjets Basketballers were responsible for our craft. Back then there wasn't a girls' team that could have beaten the national team. Our club, which was Pan Am Marvellites Netballers used to practice with the Pan Am Sunjets Basketballers club. Nobody could have beaten Pan Am Marvellites and it was because of the training with those boys. Jean encouraged Lystra to incorporate our training with the boys. So we had the physical training with Steve and Tony Parris and the game practice with the Pan Am Sunjets Basketballers. With all the training we did, some of which we never did before, we were properly prepared and ready for the tournament. The morning training wasn't hard for me because as a shooter I was accustomed to it. My routine for the week was to be up at 4 o'clock in the morning, running around the Savannah by 4:30am and shooting on the court for an hour before reaching to work for 7am. The only free day was Sunday, but then there was church in the morning and sometimes I didn't want to go because I was too tired. I missed many christenings, weddings, cinema shows and a lot of other things throughout my life because of netball. All in all, I think the training really prepared us and we moved like a unit.
Jean had a thing she used to say, "One for all and all for one". Although we were from different clubs the goal was the same we wanted to win and wanted it badly. We were self- motivated because before some of us reached the national team we were aware of our natural abilities. If you look at girls like Jean, Janet and Jennifer, they were tall, strong people. I do not think we have that kind of strong people today because they are eating too much of fast foods. If you put vegetables for them to eat they will turn up their faces. The players they have now only train when the national team has training. Where is the commitment? In the old days training for us was all the time. If we were not on the netball court, we were on the basketball court as the basketball helped us. We have netballers now, but in our days we had to make a choice. Sometimes when tournaments were coming around it was either you were going to play netball or you were going to play basketball. I remember there was a basketball tournament going to Mexico before the world netball tournament and Lystra said, "Pick yuh pick, if you go with basketball forget the netball." In 1975 I think that is what drew the line and some of us really made a decision although we never really stopped playing basketball.
I remember before the world tournament to New Zealand I was out of school and at home learning to cook and so on. I decided that I would look for a job, and the next thing, you know, I ended up in Service Commissions. There was a vacancy in the Ministry of Health at the time and I got the position. However, I had to tell them that I couldn't accept the job because I was going on the world tournament to New Zealand. Imagine you are getting a job in the public service at the Ministry of Health and there I was telling them I couldn't accept the job because I was going on a world tournament. I chose the game and told myself that maybe when I returned something else might happen. Nothing happened when I returned from the world tournament in November, 1975, so I had to go and visit them again (laughter).When I returned (close to my mother's birthday), it was on the 10th November, 1975. I worked there for three months as a relief worker in 1975, and I am still employed in the service to this day. I think they kept me in the service because of the netball. I remember when the Ministry of Finance had their sports with all the organizations that come under the office of the Prime Minister. They told me they had a relief 13 spot and wanted me to stay on in the position. So there I was with a relief 13 spot for three months but I was still going. They had a space where somebody had resigned because I think she got married and was leaving Trinidad. They told me they wanted me to stay on in the position because they needed me to shoot and play for them. They pushed me into that relief 13 spot and that was it until up to this day.
Thirteen has been lucky for me. I got 13 at the Ministry of Finance as relief spot and I also met my husband Emrold on 13th December, 1979. In basketball nobody wanted 13 but I used to wear it. My luck with 13 continued after 1979 when Dr. Williams asked who was interested in coaching netball. A coaching position was offered with a traveling post and a salary that was four hundred dollars, more than what I was making at the time. I decided to move and go over. Sometimes little things happen to you along the way that makes things a littler easier. Netball has been really good to me and I believe it is why I am working up to this day.
TRINIVIEW.COM: What was your experience like playing in other countries?
PEGGY: Very relaxed. You do not miss the noise because you know when you are here and you make a mistake people will shout at you. Somebody from the crowd will shout at you and let you have it. When you are outside there it is only the pressure from the coach and the other players you will be dealing with. The background I came from, my mother couldn't afford to send me on those trips. I liked traveling because I always found it was something nice. It was an extra incentive for me to be a national player and to continue being at the top. Apart from representing the country, which is patriotic and everything else, my motivation was getting to see another country. Making the team was just an extra effort for me to get out and see somewhere else.
TRINIVIEW.COM: Which countries would you say had the biggest impact on you?
PEGGY: Believe it or not it was England, the master colonial place. When we were going to the world tournament in Singapore we passed through England. New Zealand was interesting because there is a tribe called the Maori and when you look at them and you look at me you see the similarities in our features. I could fit in amongst them and nobody would know the difference. I resemble the Aborigines so much so that when the games started and the people saw me they couldn't understand why I was playing. I also saw the similarities with the people from Papua New Guinea and Honolulu. I could have taken off my national jacket, blended in and walked straight through and nobody would have noticed the difference. When we were going to Singapore, Saudi Arabia was a special part of the journey for me. I always remembered it because of how much I like to travel and observe what is happening. The flight was thirteen hours straight from England and the only time we stopped was to check an oil leak and refuel the plane in a place called Muscat. No one was allowed to disembark and armed soldiers guarded the area while the plane was being refueled and checked. The people I saw in Saudi Arabia were of various skin tones and some of them, even though they were wearing their turbans, did not look like Arabs. Passing through England, stopping off for a brief moment in Saudi Arabia and Muscat didn't seem like much, but those things left an impression. The diplomacy and courtesy in England was amazing. When you walk down the street everybody tells you good morning even if you are a stranger. When you go into a store, you have white clerks serving you and regardless of what some of them may be thinking, you do not see it. Seeing the changing of the guards with their tall furry hats called bearskins, the River Thames and riding the double-decker buses in England were all very interesting experiences.
The year 1974 holds a lot of memories. There was the Grape and Wine Festival in Canada where Willard 'Lord Relator' Harris was one of the Calypsonians. We used to sing along in the audience with him because we learned the chorus going up on the plane. I also have a lot of memories about St. Lucia and some of the Caribbean islands. Everywhere I visited was an experience for me. Grenada was one of the islands that I really loved. Because I am a loner, if I have to go to Grenada, Tobago or anywhere, I wouldn't look for a partner or a group, I would just go. That is how I grew up. Some people think being with themselves they are very lonely. That is the time when I think the most, I work harder and I am very comfortable. To some people it might seem selfish. I grew up with brothers and sisters and even though we were close, everybody had their own space. I am the eldest of three girls and one boy in my family. My sister Joanne should be the Commissioner of Police because she is good at what she does. She was in charge of the patrols on the streets for Carnival. I think that is her life and she is on call nearly all the time.
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