A PROMINENT national team manager once gave a strong testimony to the level of talent he thinks Aurtis Whitley has as a footballer.
"That guy can walk into the national team whenever he wants. He just has to want too." Back then, it was perceived that Whitley was uninterested in playing football for Trinidad and Tobago, and there were reports that he had rejected every invitation offered for him to join the Warriors. Few have heard what Whitley has to say on the matter. Until now.
Whitley confesses that he is guilty of not heeding the call to national duty. Whether, true or not, he perceives that he would have had a problem with former national coach Bertille St Clair had he joined the national team before the coming of Dutchman Leo Beenhakker.
"They call me a few times," he confesses. "But back then there was a problem with the coach and a couple of some players concerning hair. Them fellas had the same cane-row style of hairstyle as me. I can't see what hairstyle have to do with football. So, I decide that I not going to national team training if the coach more interested in my hair style than how I play."
Whitley further explains that he does not believe that he would have been given fair consideration and so abandoned any attempt to join the national team altogether.
"Some of them fellas (names called) cut their hair and look, they still get drop."
Now, Whitley believes that he has another chance under Beenhakker and is giving his all for T&T and the new national coach.
"I am focused. I want to play my best and give a hundred per cent every time I play for my country."
At age 28, the Malick resident thinks he still hasn't reached his peak and would relish a chance to match his skill against the best players in the world at the 2006 World Cup. He says it doesn't matter where he plays on the team.
"Everyone in the country know me as an attacking player. But, whether I am comfortable or not, I am willing to play anywhere the coach thinks I can best make a contribution to the team. As a good footballer, one has to adapt to whatever situation one is in. I am willing to do that."
Whitley also spoke of a name change that sometimes puzzles fans and football folk alike. Originally Otis Seaton before joining the national team, Whitley declares: "That Otis Seaton thing over, I am Aurtis Whitley now."
He has fully adopted the name on his passport when playing for his country and for his club CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh, where after eight years, he is their longest-serving player. Whitley explains that because his family planned to migrate when he was younger, he had changed his surname to that of his father, Price Seaton, who is an American citizen. He has now simply adopted his original name.
By whatever named he is called, many know Whitley as one of the most talented players still based in Trinidad and Tobago. However, some may not have known that in the early 1990's when Malick Senior Comprehensive dominated the Secondary Schools Football League, Whitley was part of the team. He joined Malick in 1991, playing his first season in 1992 on the left-wing, and has played with such players as Arnold Dwarika, Gary Glasgow, Irasto Knights, Chesley Walters and Justin Latapy.
After his school days, Whitley joined East Zone clubs Young Hearts and Nestles, before moving to Superstar Rangers and finally Jabloteh. However, after eight years with Jabloteh, he wouldn't mind the challenge of playing overseas. But if he never gets a contract, Whitley is satisfied to play out his career as a local pro.
"The level of football in the pro league is one level, " Whitley says. "To see if my skills match up, I will have to go outside. If I can reach out there, that will be fine. But if not, I'll just play out the rest of my career at home."
Whitley thinks that qualification for the World Cup is an excellent way to ensure he gets an overseas contact. He thinks he still has a lot of football in him, and once fit, estimates that he should be able to play well into his thirties.
"My long term goal in the sport is to reach as far as I could, for as long as I can."