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Fri, Mar

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He’s largely considered as the best playmaker and most skillful attacking players to arrive on the international stage for this country after Russell Latapy.

And like the latter, he’s no longer playing and has chosen the path of coaching in an attempt to remain in the game.

Arnold Dwarika, the former diminutive Malick Senior Comp and Joe Public player was among the local coaches who completed the TTFF/Dutch “C” License coaching course at the Hasely Crawford Stadium last Friday.

At present, Dwarika, who earned his last pick as a player under Francisco Maturana in 2009, is a member of the DirecTV North East Stars coaching staff.

He misses playing but is eager to stay in the game.

“It’s a learning process for me and a chance for me to help develop the younger players to the standard that is required for international football or moving on to play overseas.

It’s a bit different being on the other side of the line. It’s a time to put things into perspective to making players achieve what you want and it’s up to me to do it from a coaching aspect.

It will be a bit difficult for me talking from the other side of the line as compared to how it was for me from on the inside of the line of a player,” Dwarika said.

“I think this course is the right to start off for a person like me who is coming over from being a player. I always like challenges.

Coaching will have the ups and downs but this is why we are part of these courses. It’s about learning how to make the games more enjoyable and loveable for the younger ones.

We have a youth program in place at North East so it’s a matter of applying what we are learning at this course.  The overall development will not come overnight.

It’s a phase where we need to be patient. This course is about developing the youths so that when they go to the national level, the coaches will not have the problem of having to teach them the basics.

“I’ll always miss playing. I don’t know when I’ll stop miss playing but this is a great step for me to be part of it,” added Dwarika who played for scored nine goals in 46 appearances for Scottish club East Fife between 1995-1997 and is still regarded as one of the better players to have graced that club from outside of Europe.

Dwarika playing career stemmed from 1992 when he appeared for Defence Force and followed by playing for the likes of Al Ansar in Lebanon, Guangzhou Rizhiquan, Qingdao Hailifeng and Beijing Guoan in China alongside Gary Glasgow, W Connection, United Petrotrin, Superstar Rangers, Trinity Pros and East Fife.

He netted 28 goals in 72 appearances for T&T during which period he won the T&T “Player of the year in 1998, 1999 and 2001 and also capped the Caribbean top player award in 1999 whole earning the T&T Pro league topscorer award with 45 goals in 1999 and followed up that season with a performance that earned him selection on the Concacaf Gold Cup “All Star” team in 2000 alongside Latapy and Dwight Yorke.

Other notable names on that All star eleven included Mexico’s Rafael Marquez and Ramon Ramirez and American Cobi Jones.

VIDEO: - View Dwarika's interview