BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SUFFERING the bitter taste of defeat at the 2009 Rams Primary School Track and Field Championships was a wake-up call for 9-year-old Israel Liburd and set him on a path to become one of the Federation’s most exciting young athletes to watch this year.
“Last year he entered the championship and in all of his races he was placing fourth,” Israel’s mother Marlene told SKNVibes. “He was quite upset that he was doing that.”
Israel, who runs for the St. Joseph’s/St. Theresa’s Convent combined Primary team, has a deep love for competition on the track and took his losses at the 2009 meet personally. Perhaps this was due to the adversity he had to overcome to be able to run in the first place.
Marlene informed SKNVibes that around the age of two Israel “developed serious knock-knees, almost like an X”.
According to the renowned Boston Children’s Hospital, knock-knees describes “a standing child whose knees touch but ankles do not”.
While the affliction is relatively common as a part of many children’s development, severe cases can make it so a “child cannot run easily and may not want to participate in sports or other physical activities”.
Israel’s burden kept him from running for most of his pre-school years despite his great admiration for national icon and world champion sprinter Kim Collins. Finally after many years of searching, Marlene was able to find a solution to the knock-knees.
“When he was young I took him to the doctors and I almost had them operate on his feet, but one doctor friend of mine told me to take him and let him play football.
“He said that Israel had loose ligaments. I took him to play football first with [Elvis] ‘Star’ Browne,” she said.
The physical activity worked for Israel and was able to conquer a major obstacle to his passion for the sprints, but that was not enough for the young man. Recognizing her son’s desire to win and work hard for it, Marlene took an extra step to help him improve his standard after the 2009 Ram’s Primary meet.
“I went online just searching and I came across a site for track and field. I was looking at it and bought a coaching book to coach youths because I know nothing about running. So, I bought that and some stuff to help him—a harness, one of those ladders, some flags and one of those timers. I was just trying to help him because I saw that he has the capability to run fast.”
While Israel showed great improvement, the real turn in his young life came after a chance meeting with youth coach Rawle Isaac at the Basseterre High School grounds where Marlene was training her son.
Isaac accepted Marlene’s request to train Israel and immediately recognized the massive potential in the boy.
“One thing with me is that I do not turn back anyone, but my first impression when I saw him do a little run through was, ‘well, I have an athlete on my hands’.
“After the first two weeks, I realized the great improvement in him and I worked out I don’t have to do much; I just have to come up with the right formula for him. I did and, to me, he is performing beyond his age,” Isaac said.
Israel certainly surprised more than one person at the 2010 hosting of the Ram’s Primary Championships as he went on to utterly dominate the Boys U-11 100m and 200m with record setting times of 13.84sec and 27.97sec, respectively.
“Israel is a hard worker and because of that he will get to reach where he wants to reach in track and field. Dedication and discipline is the key, not natural talent,” the boy’s coach told SKNVibes.
And it is that same work ethic that Isaac expects to stun the regional competition with in July when St. Kitts hosts the Caribbean Union of Teachers Games at the Silver Jubilee Anniversary Stadium.
“Running Under-11 and running 13.66, that’s a lot of speed. And when I say a lot of speed, I mean a lot of speed. So, anyone out there coming in with a 13.66 would be running behind Israel because 13.66 is just a stepping stone for him. By July, he might even surprise me with a 12,” Isaac stated.
For Israel, however, the pleasure of being able to compete in the sport he loves is enough for now. He said he would be “very happy” to run in the CUT Games and his determination could very well set him apart from his peers. It may even set him apart as the next great sprinter from St. Kitts-Nevis.
“Yes, I’m sure I could get faster than him,” Israel said with a confident smile when asked about his idol Collins.
