GROS ISLET, St Lucia — Making a small mark in a relatively small community does not sit well with Miguel Coley.

Hailing from the largely farming town of Mile Gully in rural Manchester, the recently appointed national assistant senior team coach always had ambitions of climbing onto the big stage.

He rose from virtual obscurity to become deputy to German tactician Winfried Schaefer.

But Coley, who played for the Mile Gully football team and former national champions Waterhouse FC, revealed that he once had a strong desire to don the national colours as a player.

“I’m a person, basically, who thinks big. I’m from a very small community, so I can’t grow up and be little or to be belittled. I’m somebody who really aspires for greatness,” Coley told the Jamaica Observer during the Reggae Boyz’ two-match tour of the Caribbean.

“Growing up, I always wanted to play for the national team. My mother and rest of my family are always pushing me. They believed in me. They know that I’m a smart person. It’s a pity, they wanted me to play for [English football club] Manchester United,” the 31-year-old added, while bursting into a laugh.

As the laughter gave way to a more sober and reflective look, he added that he was a handy midfielder before a chronic ankle injury curtailed what, he believes, could have been a fruitful playing career.

“I was a creative player because I have a very creative mind and at one point I believed I should have been a part of the national set-up even at the youth level.”

Coley, a long-time Manchester United fan due to their winning mentality, but an admirer of Spanish League champions FC Barcelona because of their precision and style of play, shared that family alone did not assist in paving a path for him.

“You can’t be successful without being counselled,” he explained, while mentioning the guidance provided by schoolboy coaches Barry Watson and Alrick Clarke, as well as the management and coaching staff at his local club Barbican FC.

A physical education teacher at Jamaica College, Coley, who coached the school to the Manning Cup and all-island Olivier Shield titles last season, previously spent several years in similar roles at Norman Manley High.

He also coached Barbican to an Under-17 club title a few years ago and has since been promoted to lead their senior team in the Super League competition.

A former Holmwood Technical student, Coley explained how he wound up becoming a coach, who now holds a Level II certificate through the Jamaica Football Federation programme.

“When I was attending Mico Teachers’ College, each summer holiday I would go back [to Manchester] and assist [coach] Barry Watson with the Mile Gully High daCosta Cup team, but I didn’t have any real interest in coaching at the time.

“One day, while I was teaching at Norman Manley High, Alrick Clarke, the coach at the time, asked me to come and help out and take over the Under-14 team.

“Mr Clarke is somebody I know and he knows I am very patient, quite humble and I have an interest in kids excelling, and he saw it as an opportunity since I wasn’t playing football anymore.

“We went to the semi-final of the competition and from there the sky was the limit. I saw it as something that I could do and a way of giving back and sharing how I wanted the game to be played.

“I was promoted to being the coach of the Norman Manley Manning Cup team in 2008 … because Mr Clarke went to [coach at] Calabar High.

Though reaching the semi-finals of both the Manning and Walker Cup KO competitions in 2010, he was not a trophy winner at the Maxfield Avenue-based institution. According to Coley, there were other victories.

“I found ways of getting them [football players] to also focus on their academics. And the kids were playing good football, attractive football and as a result of that Jamaica College, out of the blues, offered me a job to coach there.

“Now we have kids up there who are passionate and hungry and want to be successful, not just in football, but holistically. That’s my philosophy… developing the person to be the best he can be,” said the man, who has laid claim to being a better-than-average poet and a teacher of English and Literature.

He noted that there were down points as well — the kind of adversity that has motivated him.

“My worst experience as a coach, and it’s one of my motivators, was when one of my better players, Kerone McKenzie, passed away in 2009. He got injured on the field and while being rushed to the hospital, he died.

“Based on the stress and implications of that, I did two surgeries to the abdomen region. I felt at one point to stop, but to honour his legacy I felt I had to push on… so yeah, I’ve been through it [hardships],” he related.

The ultimate silver lining came when he was approached by Schaefer.

“I knew [I had the job] a couple weeks before it was announced when I met with him [Schaefer]. He asked me and I said yes because given that opportunity you can’t say no. I have a brain that I think I can be triumphant. I have to be humble, but I know what is within my reach as a strong Jamaican,” he confidently declared.