NOT for the first time, national senior soccer coach, Bertille St. Clair, stands accused of blacklisting players who either wear their hair in dreadlocks or plaits.
He had strenuously denied the accusations, however, and on his return to the post earlier this year, had insisted that was not his methodology.
But this was in serious doubt on Friday morning when a former national coach, and an official of one of the country’s top professional clubs, reported that two members of the squad, Silvio Spann of Vibe 105 FM W/Connection, and Kern Thomas, of 2005 champions, North East Stars, had been read the riot act … either get rid of their locks, or plaits, or stay away from practice sessions.
When I went down to the Hasely Crawford, where the team was sharpening up for its final qualifying match against St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the same venue on Wednesday, Spann, the son of former national player, Leroy Spann, was watching from the sidelines, but Thomas was a no-show.
Team officials Peter Rampersad and Richard Braithwaite were both stunned when I told them what I had heard, and by the time I returned to the sidelines after making a futile effort to put the question directly to St. Clair, Spann -- obviously not wanting to hurt his chances of making the team, and having spoken to Rampersad, in the interim -- explained that he was suffering with diarrhoea.
There was then a break in the training session while Rampersad and Braithwaite had a heated exchange with St. Clair and his assistants, Ron la Forest and Michael “Brow” Maurice, in the middle of the field.
Rampersad later told me that they had decided to continue the exchange at the end of the session, since they hadn’t known of St. Clair’s actions previously.
Meanwhile, several players were talking about the ban -- most of them with their heads almost shaved, like St. Clair -- and advising former St. Mary’s star player, Leslie Fitzpatrick, who now wears his hair in dreadlocks, that he would have to comply if he wanted to make the team.
Among the other players with dreadlocks around the team, are Sancho, Arnold Dwarika, and Gary Glasgow. Glasgow was a spectator at Friday’s training session too.
Local soccer fans, who are being urged to come out and support the team, are sure to be up in arms when they realise that the best team is not being selected because of St. Clair’s personal dislikes.
The senior club official described it as an attack on the players human rights.