Bertille eyes second World Cup success

FOURTEEN YEARS after he guided the national Under-20 men’s football team to the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championships in Portugal, Bertille St Clair has set his sights out on guiding the men’s senior squad to the most prestigious event in the sport, World Cup 2006 in Germany. In fact, Bertille is the only coach from the English-speaking Caribbean to take a team from the qualifying stages to the World Cup, with a squad comprising the likes of captain Dwight Yorke, fellow strikers Jerren Nixon and Angus Eve, goalkeepers Michael McComie and Clayton Ince, and the late defender Richard Theodore.

After he was sacked as coach when the team failed to score a goal in their three matches (while conceding ten), and a brief stint with the St Vincent senior team in 1996, Bertille replaced Sebastiao Pereira de Araujo as TT senior team coach from May 1997 and March 2000. He was again acrimoniously fired following the team’s 1-0 semi-final loss to Canada at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The owner of one of the most successful coaching schools in the country (the St Clair Coaching School), Bertille won two Caribbean Cup titles (at St Kitts in 1997 and at home in 1999) as well as four national Intercol titles and six league Championships with Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive.
How did Bertille get involved in coaching?

He revealed that he began teaching at the age of 17 as a Physical Education teacher at the Montgomery Primary School. His talents were evident as he led the school to every major primary school title in Tobago, in both football and cricket. (Yes, Bertille was a cricket coach and he admits that he is the holder of an MCC coaching badge). He later moved to Signal Hill where he taught both PE and English, while furthering his career as a coach following courses in the United States and Mexico. “I feel coaching is development and I like to work with people,” Bertille noted. “I like to see people progress and I think that’s the reason why I’m (into) coaching.” And what are his main aspirations? “I want to be successful and the pinnacle of a coach is to take a team to the World Cup. I did it at the youth level so this is why I took this other job as a national coach to try to succeed at that level.”

But players have found it hard to deal with Bertille, who is renowned for being a strict disciplinarian. He admits, “Discipline is life. If you are not disciplined in anything you would not be successful.” Bertille has not only set his eyes towards Germany but to the betterment of footballers in the sister isle. The management and staff of the St Clair Coaching School are currently developing a permanent structure in the heart of Carnbee, north of the Lowlands district. “This was a worthy venture and at last we’ve seen the light,” said Bertille. “Eventually we’ll have the kind of facility that we can use for the development of kids from Trinidad as well as in Tobago.” Bertille noted that the idea to build the school was conceptualised during the mid-1970s while he was on an overseas coaching stint. “We started with about 10-15 guys and we grew from there. Now we have over 200 kids. The likes of Dwight Yorke were part of this coaching school. Dwight came here from the age of six and he stayed here until he got his professional contract (at Aston Villa in 1989).”

The school is also a part of the Tobago Football Association (TFA) and competes in the various leagues in the sister isle. “We’re hoping to be a professional outfit, ” boasted Bertille, adding that he hopes to have his club participate in the TT Pro League, after the completion of the new facility. Life has been tough for Bertille lately, as he was twice admitted to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, England during his “second coming” as coach, in February during a “scouting stint” for British-based players and in May during the team’s fortnight tour of the United Kingdom. Bertille, who refused to divulge his age during the interview, is the father of five. He admits that, outside of the playing field, “Bertille St Clair is a man who keeps his feet on the ground. I’m very comfortable in that I worked hard for what I want and like to enjoy life.”