Ron La Forest... is all heart for TT football

A DESIRE to contribute to football at any capacity, whether it is coaching or in the field of administration, is what keeps Ronald “Ron” La Forest involved with the game locally. The 49-year-old La Forest was appointed assistant national senior football team coach on January 16 and was actually in charge of two recent matches in Bermuda. With re-appointed coach Bertille St Clair unable to attend due to illness, La Forest was the interim coach as the squad won their first match 1-0 and drew the other 2-2 against the Bermuda national team.

Before his appointment, La Forest spent a year coaching Joe Public in the TT Pro League while he also had stints with CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh (current Pro League champions), Frontline, ECM Motown, Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive and St Anthony’s College. La Forest, who also played as a striker for both the national senior and Under-19 teams, recently reflected on his career to date. “I began at the very tender age of seven. I was actually born in Carenage and behind my house was a savannah,” he noted. “After coming from school (Carenage Boys RC), I’ll always go in the back and play.” He stressed that he had no formal training nor did his parents deter him from playing the sport. “It was a gift from the Almighty because my father (Alfred) never even kicked a lime,” he jokingly confessed. “May God rest his soul but he was always there for me.”

La Forest’s talents were spotted by coaches at Belmont Intermediate (now Belmont Secondary) who offered a scholarship to the up-and-coming striker. After his school days were over, he progressed to the Defence Force, where he played from 1972-1981. He also wore the national colours at the Under-19 level from 1971-73, during which he was part of the team that won the Benson and Hedges Youth Tournament against Queen’s Park Oval against Jamaica in 1972. The compact-build striker then moved up to the senior team, where he represented with distinction until he hung up his boots in the mid-1980s. “I always enjoyed scoring goals so I played my career as a striker but at the same time I was able to play midfield because I was a very good passer of the ball,” he said.

La Forest’s coaching career began with Frontline in the Savannah League, after which he moved on to ECM Motown in the local Semi-Pro League. His success on the touchlines saw him accept an offer to join Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive, where he worked for four years, with the team winning the Secondary Schools Football League North Zone title in 1997. In 2002, he guided St Anthony’s to a clean sweep of titles — the North Zone, North Zonal Intercol, Big Five and overall Intercol crowns — as they went unbeaten throughout the season. Referring to his work with the Westmoorings-based school, he stated: “I got an offer from (present coach) Nigel Grovesnor because he felt that he reached one level (with the school) and wanted to take it to another level, so I took up the challenge.”

And why did La Forest gravitate to coaching? “My role is always to help my colleagues so it was easy for me to pass on the knowledge that I gained.” La Forest, who also coached the national Under-17 team during the World Champion-ship qualifiers in Bermuda in 2002, is pleased with his successes thus far. “I seem to be getting glory as I go along,” he remarked. Describing himself as a “very nice, easy-going family person,” La Forest is the father of three children, but has great hopes for the youngest — 15-month-old Ronaldinho Ron La Forest, his only child with wife Elizabeth.