Former Duke University striker Kyle Bethel, 20, still wants to play for Trinidad and Tobago if given the opportunity again. The talented striker spoke to the Soca Warriors Online (SWO) about his ambitions to don the red, black and white one day.
Kyle qualifies for T&T through his mother Christine Bethel who was born in Trinidad. Kyle visited T&T twice in his life and loved it for the little he saw, and of course Carnival was the main attraction.
In November 2006 the big striker was also invited to trial with Trinidad & Tobago under then coach Wim Rijsbergen on a five-day scouting/training camp in South Carolina.
Kyle didn't make the final cut, but said he was thankful for the opportunity given to him by the Trinidad and Tobago Federation, more so, myself and Mr Jack Warner for making the trial possible.
According to Kyle, being the youngest player (16) at the time and given the fact that it was his first time at this level he was a bit intimidated.
He also said that he was impressed with the talent he saw at the camp and the guys were very friendly. Now three years later, he hopes he can get another shot at representing T&T, or at least another trial.
Kyle continued to divulge that after the camp in 2006 no one from the TTFF told him anything or took his contact information, as he had hoped to get a T&T call up again. Since none came he decided to focus exclusively on his college career.
Kyle started off his footballing career at Howell High School and was voted four-time MVP while there. He recorded 18 goals and 18 assists during his senior year after missing the first half of season due to an injury.
Kyle was also voted the number one player in Monmouth County coaches poll in 2006 and later scored a career high 43 goals and 43 assists.
The 6-1 striker later played for club team Matchfit Academy (rated the best team in New Jersey) and won three state cups at the, U-15, U-16 and U-18 division A.
Kyle then played for MSA in the Nike Joga Bonito 3-on-3 tournament and was his team's top goal-scorer. He carried his team to the national title and a chance to play in the finals in Brazil where they came third only to be knocked out by the eventual champs. A Portuguese side.
His efforts did not go unnoticed as he had won himself a full scholarship at Duke University. While at Duke he was scouted by the US national U-20 team in 2008 and was later invited by head coach Thomas Rongen but broke his arm and had to withdraw his invitation.
He played in 11 games for Duke, scored four goals and added two assists, missed the middle part of the season due to injury and after recovering he later left the school because of personal reasons and was out of school football for a while.
However, the striker didn't let anything stop him as he was quickly snapped up by the Seattle Wolves and kept fit and ready to continue his college career.
The moved paid dividends as yesterday, Kyle signed on the dotted line for one of the top schools in the US college system - UCLA, and is due to run out for them come January 2010.
He said he would love to play professionally in Europe after school and knows of Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy and Kenwyne Jones, but his favorite player is Liverpool's Fernando Torres.