eslie John is an International football player who represents Trinidad and Tobago and plays as a defender. He made his Senior debut for his country against Peru in 2016 and also played against Uruguay later that year. He also represented Trinidad in the U20 World cup qualifying tournament In Guatemala in 2011. Domestically, Weslie curently plays for Isloch Minsk Raion in the Belarusian Premier league, having previously played in El Salvador's Premier division with UES where he was selected in the team of the season for 2016.
Weslie told us he grew up in a very sporty family. His uncle represented Trinidad And Tobago In the 2006 World Cup, while another uncle had held an International record In Athletics. Football was simply a way of life and so after school all the kids would meet up and play for fun until dark and that’s where his passion grew. One of his very first competitive games though, came when at around the age of 12, he was invited by a new friend to play for the local youth team. Unfortunately there wasn't time to go home to get his boots but thankfully the friend insisted the coach would have a spare pair. Unfortunately they were the coaches spare size 12's, which meant little Weslie was forced to run around as enthusiastically as any kid could in boots at least 4 sizes too big. Somehow though, he still managed to score, albeit with a header and unsurprisingly not his oversized shoes, such was his confidence and self belief at this point.
Weslie told us he had developed that self belief early in his life as a result of his faith in God and one of his first coaches Michael Lambert. Growing up his Father was never really around at all to build a relationship with because of his work, but having a loving mother and through the church, he experienced God as a father who was able help him through every obstacle he was facing in life and football. Even when everyone else was only seeing negative things like he was too weak or too small or even too slow, his belief that God had a plan for him to achieve great things along with Michael continually telling him and his mother that he would be something special one day, gave him all the belief he needed. Unfortunately Michael died when Weslie was around 11 but those early experiences and his achievements now have helped Weslie understand that as he said "there’s nothing I don’t think I can’t do with God , who is the only reason I’m where I am today along with my Mother."
As Weslie developed, he became one of the most feared strikers in youth football. Alongside his strike partner and friend Marcus Joseph, they were consistently scoring 9 or 10 goals a game between each other with Marcus almost always just outscoring him by the odd goal. As a result, Weslie had big ambitions for his footballing future but things did not develop as quickly as he assumed they would and his path to the top was not as easy as he thought it would be. Weslie said "Going Pro was something I’d always dreamt about and the opportunity was presented after coming up through the youth systems. I eventually signed a contract in 2010. thinking it was going to be a simple process. Man was I wrong, it was the start of a long journey."
Weslie stuck with it though, when many others did not and even though he admitted he wasn't the most talented and at times it didn't seem that he was on the path that everyone told him he needed to be on to be successful, God had other plans for him and made a way.
Weslie wanted you guys to learn from his journey and most importantly know that you all have the opportunity to fulfil God's amazing purpose for your life no matter how far away that might seem at the moment but you have to be patient and believe. Wesley said: "I want you to know that everyone's Path is not the same, your breakthrough may take longer than others but you can trust God and don’t ever give up. As my mom always told me, Delayed does not mean denied.”
Weslie is now looking to help his club become established in the Top Division in Belarus and in doing so, if the call comes from Trinidad and Tobago to play in further Internationals, you can be sure he'll be ready.
SOURCE: Fight for the Fatherless