A father’s Love through Football

On the third Sunday of June, we celebrate the fathers, father figures and the men that have mentored our children. And since the acknowledgment of great fathers has already begun, we went in search of this week’s look on the bright side. It’s the story of a man embracing fatherhood, its joys and challenges. Sabreena had a sit down with a familiar face in sports, but his role as a father deserves commendation too.

Sabreena Daly, Reporting

Ian ‘Yello’ Gaynair takes over the field whenever a ball touches the pitch; the moment the well-known football player became a dad, however, his kids took over his heart.

Ian Gaynair

Ian Gaynair, Father

“I became a dad like 13 years ago and, and I don’t think that I was really ready for it at the time.  I was a wild kid, but I never thought that i was ready for it. You know, be a father and well responsibilities by my own, but with time, you know, everything work out and, and you start look for life different.”

They say daughters soften a father’s heart, but it’s the father and son bond that is uniquely different. Ian Gaynair shared with us that his son is his king.

Ian Gaynair
“Now, I have my king. My son was, I mean, some people even look at it like I only have one child because my son is everywhere I go; he goes as long as he can go, you know? I take him everywhere. And football, he has a passion for it. That, I have nothing to do with that. I gave my son an opportunity to make him decide where he was and, you know, he loved football. So I mean, I am glad that he loves football where I could teach out a lot with all my experience.”

Yello believes his son has the potential to make it further than he did as an athlete. At eight years old, Azaire trains with the Belize National Team which his father is also a member. But the goal is to see his son play the sport they love at the highest level.

Sabreena Daly

“Who taught you to play football?”

Azaire Gaynair

Azaire Gaynair, Son
“My dad.”

Sabreena Daly

“What did he teach you?”

Azaire Gaynair

“Kicking skills and passing the ball.”
Sabreena Daly

“Is your dad really special to you?”

Azaire Gaynair

“Yes ma’am.”
Sabreena Daly

“How is he special?”

Azaire Gaynair

“Because he buys me anything I want.”

Ian Gaynair
“He has his own training. And when he’s not training, he’s with my team. And what, what I do is sometimes I would put him to train and do the same thing my team is doing. He and someone else would be on the side juggling the ball, passing the ball, but the same thing if not with me. When I come out here to watch my son play, everybody says, “You’re already better that you dad!” when they tell me that, i am proud because I want my son to be better than me. So every day I am behind him because I want tomorrow when he signs that big contract, I could say he did it for us. You know?”

The relationship between a father and son is critical in shaping a boy to a man, one Ian wished he experienced while growing up. In parenthood, he uses the absence of his father as a child as motivation to ensure that his son doesn’t have that experience. Allowing a space for Azaire to feel his emotions and speak about them is also important to him.

Ian Gaynair
“I mean, my mother raised me on her own and I wished I had my dad around at the early stages where he could nurture me and show me what this world is really about; to guide me because, you know, at a very young age is when you learn the most thing, you adapt the most things. So with my son, I never have a father around but my son has me around. I never got the chance to have any emotions when I was small because my mom had to work two jobs, you know? So I had to battle it on my own and I never had anyone to cry to like that because, I mean, like what you said I am a boy, I am a man. I never wanted to lean on my mom and cry and tell her my problems, which I ended up having to do, but I would’ve rather the father-son thing, you know? And I dont hate my father for not being around, but I think I was missing that as a child. So, I want to give my son everything I never had, especially with that.”

Establishing a strong and healthy relationship with his son by doing the things he wanted to do with his own father helped Yello with forgiveness.
Ian Gaynair
“My son, we go to church together. We do everything. We do things I never did when I was young. You know. I try to just do things out of the box. And the things that, I mean, always wanted to experience in my time. It healed, it healed a whole lot for real, a whole lot. And, now, when I go around my dad, my dad even tells me he admires the way I deal with my son because I know him. You know, he explained to me why he never was around at the time and I forgive him.”

Looking on the Bright Side, I’m Sabreena Daly.