Hilaire Gives Report from Gillette’s Gold Cup Matches

Hilaire quickly learned that it was more than just a liaison position that he signed up for on Thursday afternoon when he arrived in Boston. The experience "was just amazing," he said on Monday morning when reminiscing next to UNH assistant men's soccer coach and CONCACAF Gold Cup co-worker David Faugno. "We toured the entire stadium," said Hilaire. "Coach Faugno and I now know the stadium inside and out. We saw the suites, the field and all the locker rooms."

The duo began their duties as official team liaisons for Haiti's national team and Grenada's national team on Thursday evening in Boston, Mass. After helping the teams through a weekend of training and competing, the two concluded their responsibilities on Sunday morning.

Hilaire and Faugno were selected after months of discussions between UNH head coach Josh Krusewski and Soccer United Marketing's (SUM) Jef Thiffault, a UNH alumnus.

Hilaire kept a daily log on each of the events they took part in, here's a look at what the two experienced during their four days at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

7/9/2009 - Teams Arrive

11:30 AM: Departed from the University of New Haven.

2:00 PM: Arrived in Boston and met Jef Thiffault, a UNH alumnus that works for Soccer United Marketing (SUM) and hooked us up with the liaison jobs. We went over the entire CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule.  He discussed our roles and responsibilities and gave us contacts for each of the teams that we would be working with.

3:30 PM: Met the Grenada national team for the first time at a high school in Mansfield, Mass. where they were training. After the team practiced, we helped coordinate their tour of Boston and a shopping trip to a local mall.

5:00 PM: Went over to the Haitian national team's hotel and met the team for the first time. We dropped off cases of water and Gatorade at the hotel to accommodate the team for the weekend.

7:30 PM: Checked into our hotel room in Mansfield, Mass. The hotel was located 3.5 miles from Gillette Stadium.

10:00 PM: Lights out.

7/10/2009 - Training

10:00 AM: Met the Haitian national team at a local high school in Canton, Mass. for their training session. The coaches asked for tennis balls so they could use them during their training session. After a two hour walk-thru training session, the local and Haitian media outlets conducted interviews with the players and coaches. I translated for the Haitian players while they were getting interviewed. The team then went back to their hotel for a team lunch.

1:00 PM: Went to the Renaissance Hotel, which was located at Gillette Stadium, and we got our credentials. Once we got into Gillett Stadium, Jef Thiffault took us on a tour of the entire facility. After visiting all the locker rooms, press room, equipment room and referee locker rooms, we greeted the USA national team before their training. CONCACAF officials timed each training session and only allowed the teams to train for one hour. After an intense training session the U.S team was smothered with media. The media was allowed a 20-minute session to interview the head coach and ten players. 

4:00 PM: Haiti cancelled their scheduled training session at Gillette Stadium.

6:00 PM: Grenada national team arrived and had their one-hour training session at the stadium.

7/11/09 - Game Day

8:00 AM: Woke up

9:15 AM: Checked in with Jef Thiffault and received the game day protocol. Parking passes were given to us which allowed us to park in the rear of the stadium where teams enter the facility. Locker room and field level passes were also given to us so we had full access to the facility. We then met with Nick, who is in charge of game day operations, and we helped him set up each individual locker room. Each locker room must contain the same amount of food and drinks, expect the referees. The referees requested full meals and certain kinds of beverages, so we accommodated them as well.

1:00 PM:  Went up to the Blue Level Suites were Haiti and Honduras shared a suite. The USA and Grenada teams also shared a suite that was located on the opposite side of the stadium. The suites provided food and beverages throughout the entire game for coaches, injured players and team officials.

2:00 PM: Kansas City and the New England Revolution arrived to their locker rooms

3:15 PM: Both teams took the field and began to warm-up. During this time we stayed at field level where we watched the warm-up.

3:45 PM: Both teams came off the field and we brought them back to the locker rooms. Introductions and the national anthem preceded kickoff which took place at 4:06 PM.

4:15 PM: We received a call from the Grenada team officials saying they were in route to the stadium. We then met the team and brought them to their club level seats. They were allowed to stay in a supervised section to watch the game and could not go to the locker room until 7:15 PM because their game did not start until 9:00 PM.

5:10 PM: The Haitian national team arrived and we brought them to a supervised club level section located in the same section as Grenada.

5:30 PM: Brought Haiti to their locker rooms where they began to get prepared for their game.

5:35 PM: The USA team arrived and went straight to the locker room to prepare for the game. 

6:21 PM: Escorted both teams onto the field and they began their warm-up.

6:45 PM: Both teams went back into the lockers and we sat in on their pregame speeches. 

6:50 PM: Walked the starting team out through the tunnel for introductions.

7:00 PM: Brought Grenada into their locker room

7:02 PM: USA vs. Haiti KICKOFF! During this time we watched the game from both field level and from the suite level.

7:45 PM: Honduras arrived late and went straight to their locker rooms.

7:49 PM: Went back down to the field and escorted both team back to the locker room for halftime.

7:50 PM: Sat in on the Haitian national team's halftime speech.

8:07 PM: Escorted both team back to the field.      

8:50 PM: The game ends in a 2-2 tie and we brought both teams into the locker room.

9:00 PM: The media was lined up in a gated section near the locker room and an official press conference was held in a media room located near the locker rooms. Haiti was first interviewed and I sat with the head coach and captain to translate for the captain during his interview.

9:05 PM: Grenada vs. Honduras kickoff.

9:15 PM: USA's head coach Bob Bradley and Stuart Holden began their interview as we watched.

10:00 PM: Halftime for Grenada. Walked the teams to the locker and sat in on their halftime speeches.

10:15 PM: Walked the starting team back out onto the field.

11:00 PM: The game ends, Honduras wins 4-0.

11:15 PM: The media began interviews with both teams.

11:35 PM: Helped to load the players equipment onto the buses and both teams departed for their hotels.

11:50 PM: Walked the referees to their buses and they depart for their hotel.

12:10 AM: Went back to our hotel.

12:15 AM: Lights out.

7/12/2009 - Departure Day

9:30 AM: Woke up and called both teams to make sure that they are on schedule to depart.

10:00 AM: Both teams depart to the airport and leave for their next game.

11:30 AM: Check out of our hotel and head back to New Haven.

After the weekend, Hilaire could not stop smiling. "For me, translating for the players and the media was the best ever. After the game they called the captain and coach to the media room. I translated the reporters' questions from English to Creole and from Creole to English. It was my first time doing something like that and it was just amazing," he said when thinking about some of the weekend's highlights.

He also had great memories of putting the goals in place in front of 24,000 fans for the USA vs. Haiti match. "As we were walking in the middle of the field with all the fans and the two teams on the sidelines, it was amazing," he said.

After tying 2-2, both Haiti and the USA advanced to the quarterfinals which take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philidelphia, Pa. and the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas this weekend. Hilaire made sure to extend his services should either of the teams return to the Northeast for the Gold Cup Championship match at Giants Stadium on July 26. "Definitely, it was so awesome," Hilaire said smiling when asked if he'd do it again.

Here's some photos of their time as liaisons (Click for larger):

Left: Hilaire and Faugno with UNH Alumnus Jef Thiffault of Soccer United Marketing at Gillette Stadium.