EX-NATIONAL footballer and coach Alvin Corneal will be presented with the 2011 National Republic Day Award by “Citizens for a Better Trinidad and Tobago.”
He will be presented with the award by Acting President Timothy Hamel- Smith for distinguished service to his country.
The ceremony takes place at the Servol Auditorium, La Romain on Friday
Corneal, now a FIFA instructor and technical analyst, also dabbles as a radio commentator in football and cricket.
He represented TT at both football and cricket, and was a member of Caribbean representative football team.
As a cricketer, Corneal was also a member of the TT Shell Shield team from 1955-1971 scoring 1,427 runs including four centuries at an average of 33.7. Apart from his passion in commentary, Corneal is also a sports consultant specialising in organisation, management and coaching.
Following the death of legendary West Indies cricketer Sir Frank Worrell, Corneal was appointed Director of Sports at the University of the West Indies (UWI), a position he held from 1968-1973.
He was made a member of a commission of inquiry into the state of cricket in TT by the country’s first President Sir Ellis Clarke, and was later a member of the commission which wrote the constitution for the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB).
Corneal, who founded the Alvin Corneal Coaching School, also accepted an appointment as coaching specialist for both football and cricket in the Ministry of Education from 1974-1987.
He later acted as adviser to Minister of Sports Jennifer Johnson from 1987- 1991.
He then had a spell as coach of the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and headed that programme from 1994-1998.
During his playing career, Corneal played for Maple scoring several goals from his patented swerving corner kicks, and also scored 69 goals in 119 appearances for the national team between 1955- 1969.
He was coach of the national team between 1979-1982 and again 1990- 1991 during which time TT won the Caribbean Nation’s Cup for the first time in 1982.
Corneal went on to coach a Caribbean team from 1982-1983 and 1993-1994.