National Olympic team assistant coach Michael McComie has paid tribute to his Joe Public coaching and playing staff for the honours he received following the 2006 Professional League season in this country.
McComie, a former National Youth and Senior team player, was on Sunday named by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation as the 2006 “Coach of the Year” after he guided Joe Public to the 2006 Pro League title.
McComie is currently working alongside national senior team head coach Wim Rijsbergen,Assistants Jan Van Deinsen and Anton Corneal,
“It’s an honour to get an award bestowed on me and it’s especially nice to know that people vote for it,” McComie told TTFF Media following the awards ceremony at the Crowne Plaza. “It’s Michael McComie getting the award but none of it would have been possible without the fantastic staff I had working with me. The nice thing is that the members of the Joe Public staff were either people I played with or those who were members of the staff when I was a player. Persons like Wayne Lawson, Coulson Dick, Michael Williams, Ian Dore and Walt Noreiga were very supportive.”
He also commended his players for their excellent service and commitment during the 2006 season.
“Of course the guys that get the most criticism have a major part to play in all of this. They are the players and I said before that I had the best players in the League and the most in-form at the time. To play with some of them.. guys like Arnold Dwarika, Dale Saunders, Gary Glasgow and Lyndon Andrews and then have to be in charge of them… nobody knew how that would end up. But it turned out well. Every other day I get a phone call from one of the players and that makes you realize that something good must be happening. The bosses at the club also ensured that we had the necessary resources available to us and that is always an important requirement. My role was really to put all the mechanisms together and make it work,” McComie added.
The former US-based goalie noted that no professional, whether coach, player or relevant official can perform their role in the sport and be successful at it without the timely support of family members and close associates.
“I have to thank my family… my daughters especially. At the end of a game everyone else goes away but the people involved are the ones that go back to the homes and the families. Sometimes it can be a frustrating night for you. But having them as a good support base is always an asset,” he stated.
And while many might just recognize them as the men who prepare the national team for matches, McComie took time to make special mention of Dutch coaches Rijsbergen and Van Deinsen. He has been heavily involved with them since his appointment as assistant coach to the Olympic team.
“I have to be very grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them. It’s a real eye opener. Most people see football as a 90-minute game but there is so much happening before and after both on and off the pitch. Working with professionals like them opens one up to a whole different perspective of the game.
“The qualities I gain off them is like something out of a coaching course that in some cases one would not be able to achieve. They are preparing me for a stint in England in August where I intend to further my qualifications. They are showing me the difference in coaching a club and a country. With a club you have the players all the time and with country’s it’s not like that and obviously means there needs to be different methods involved. They are also willing to spend the time with me and it’s really good to know we have quality people like them working in our football,” McComie concluded. He mentioned too that a squad has already been drawn up for preparations for the upcoming CFU leg of the Olympic qualifying tournament.