Jamaica is known for its sporting prowess, and for a country of just under three million people to produce the world’s greatest female and male sprinters in history in Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt is no ordinary feat.

The small Caribbean Island is also known to export our talent and football players but rarely have Jamaica exported football coaches directly from our local football.

Alex Thomas is one of a handful of coaches who have plied his trade overseas and what an impact he had in Guyana.

The 41-year-old Thomas, who led Slingerz FC to an unbeaten second place in Guyana’s Elite League Championship 2023/24 season, said he was grateful for the experience and he has learnt a lot.

“I was very gratified with the outcome of my team. As they say, gratitude is a must. When I feel a series of gratitude, it makes me feel good. The fact that it makes other people feel good, is an added benefit,” Thomas told Our Today.

Slingerz finished the season in second spot with 46 points, four behind the champion Guyana Defence Force with 50 points. Police were third on 40 points.

Thomas led Slingerz to 14 wins and four draws from 18 games, while scoring an impressive 76 and conceding only 10 times.

“The team’s performance was successful based on the collaborative effort by the players, coaches and management staff,” he noted.

Alex as he is more popularly called, comes from a family of footballers following the footsteps of his older brothers Omar and former Reggae Boyz captain Shavar Thomas.

He presented Wolmer’s Boys in the Manning Cup and captained Jamaica’s first youth team to qualify for a World Cup — the 1999 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in New Zealand. Then two years later, he was a part of the second Jamaican youth team to qualify for a World Cup — the 2001 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Argentina. This team was captained by his brother Shavar.

Alex who has one cap for the Senior Reggae Boyz which he earned under Serbian Coach Bora Milutinovic in the Lunar Cup in China, said his experience in coaching in Guyana was a very impactful.

“I had to be a coach with an enquiring and open-minded, with durability to deal with ideas and tasks that may seem strange or complicated,” he explained.

But not very often does an overseas coach take the rein in Guyana and Thomas had to build the trust with his coaching staff.

“We were coming from different cultures and backgrounds. Once we had established that level of trust and our connection was made, I knew we were all secured,” said Thomas.

A tough-tackling defender with a touch of elegance compared to German legend Franz Beckenbauer, Thomas, who hails from Torrington Park, played for Arnett which he later coached before moving to Molynes United.

“Listening was also an important aspect in coaching overseas because we all have different accents and we had different ways of expressing ourselves,” he noted.

“I was open-minded to learn as well because we needed to communicate effectively in order to achieve certain outcomes. We had to set aside all our speculations, beliefs, presuppositions and stereotyping.

“I also learned that being frustrated by limitations is a part of the process, but I had a good support staff and relationship with my staff to overcome moments like these,” he added.

“I learnt I had to be calm and not panic, because being a coach we are endowed with the skills and knowledge to improvise and eventually be able to devise our own approach. Engaging in different cultures offered a unique chance for me to see the sports of soccer through new lens,” said Thomas.