Hendrickson: St. Vincent & the Grenadines can be on a world stage

Football has come full circle for Ezra Hendrickson. A native of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Hendrickson left the island at an early age to go live in the USA where he managed to land a college soccer scholarship despite his high school not even having a soccer team. From there he forged his way into the professional ranks, becoming a staple of three different championship teams in Major League Soccer (MLS).

But he never forgot his roots. Hendrickson played at international level with St. Vincent & the Grenadines, leading the tiny Caribbean nation to unprecedented heights in 1996 when they qualified for the Concacaf Gold Cup.

All these years later, Hendrickson finds himself as the man in charge of Vincy Heat, accepting the post in August and debuting earlier this month. His spells as an assistant coach with the Seattle Sounders, LA Galaxy – where he spent a memorable year with Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Columbus Crew, and a stint as head coach of the Chicago Fire, have led him to this time and place.

While St. Vincent & the Grenadines have zero points after two games in the second round of Concacaf qualifying for FIFA World Cup 26™, there is still ample opportunity to advance to the third round when qualifying resumes next June. Hendrickson recently spoke with FIFA about his vision for St. Vincent & the Grenadines, inspiring the current crop of players to make the most of their opportunities and what it was like spending a season with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

On a personal level, what does it mean to you to be coaching this team?
Ezra Hendrickson: This is something that I’ve always wanted to do. In my latter years as a player I decided I wanted to be a coach and thought that eventually I wanted to coach my national team, maybe not this soon because I just had a year and a half position as a head coach in MLS, but it’s an opportunity that came at a time in which I felt like I needed it. The country needed some guidance and professionalism in the coaching ranks and it was a perfect match.

It’s my country and I want to do the best I can to really help these young players, help ones in college get to professional clubs and enhance their lives and enhance their family’s lives, which will in turn make them better players and in turn make the team a better team. Anything I can do to help these players help this country going forward is something that I want to be focused on and something I take pride in doing.

You are someone that made the most of your opportunities in football, is that the primary message to your players?
Absolutely. It’s about going out and giving your all, performing to the best of your ability and never doubt the possibilities that exist out there as far as opportunities go, and now even more so than 30 years ago when I was a young player trying to make it. For them to hear it come from me and knowing my story, I think it resonates with them and that’s why you see the confidence of this team being so high. It’s not some guy from abroad telling them, it’s someone from right here in their own backyard telling them that being a professional footballer is a possibility.

You drew with Bonaire 1-1 and defeated Montserrat 2-0 in your first two games. What were your thoughts on those performances?
There was a lot of teaching we had to do since it was a new philosophy, a new style of play, so we went into that first game against Bonaire not having fully covered everything. We kept the basics with our attacking and defensive philosophies, we tried to cover all phases, transition from attack to defence and defence to attack. We didn’t get to work on set pieces and stuff like that, but the players in those three weeks caught on really well. As far as results, we were happy but not satisfied. We felt like we deserved more from the Bonaire game because we missed some good chances, and against Montserrat we were able to finish out the game even though we made it harder on ourselves. We hadn’t had much of a chance to cover late-game management.

What were the positives from the two games?
One positive for sure is how we played defensively. I thought we were very organised. We stressed a lot our defensive organisation, so it was good to see that come to fruition in the first game especially against Bonaire. We got our goal directly off of a high press. There were some individuals who showed well, so it was good to see some players in the game express themselves, and I think the team spirit was good. Seeing how the guys carry themselves on and off the pitch has been delightful and I think we have them in a good headspace.

What do you want to see from the players in the next window?
I would tell them that without commitment, you’ll never start and without discipline you’ll never finish, so we think we’ve got their commitment. They have bought in into our style of play, but we need them to remain focused and disciplined and confident that this is a possibility.

World Cup qualifying returns next June. What does St. Vincent & the Grenadines need to do to advance to the next round?
We want to show well in the two next qualifiers in June because our thinking is that whenever we step on the pitch, whether it’s a World Cup qualifier, Nations League or a friendly, we want to win. We want to play well enough to put ourselves into position to win. These next two qualifiers in June, we have to win and win big, but it’s not something that we’re going to shy away from. We’re going to do everything we can to win these games, win them big and see what happens.

What learning lessons did you take away from your spell as head coach of the Chicago Fire?
Personally, for me as a coach, I realised that I had to learn some in-game management. I’ve since gone and watched some coaches and seen how they prepare for what-ifs, like it’s the 65th or 70th minute and this is the situation, what is your go-to? What are you trying to accomplish? In Chicago we tied a lot of games that we should have won. That was probably due to the youth and inexperience that was prevalent in that squad, but also me as a coach not having been in the position before of having to make that final decision.

Who are your coaching influences?
Number one on the list is Sigi Schmid. I think having played for Sigi both in LA and Columbus and then coaching with him in Seattle, I learned a lot. Sigi was my inspiration to become a coach. I loved the way he saw the game, his philosophy about the game. It intrigued me and got me into becoming a coach. I learned a lot from Brian Schmetzer once he took over from Sigi in Seattle in 2016. Brian is someone who brought me under his wing, even though I was the second team coach, he would have me come into his first team meetings, so I learned a lot from him.

Can you even begin to describe what it was like having Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the LA Galaxy?
It’s Zlatan (chuckles)… He’s a grandioso! We all know his personality but what really intrigued me about him is that I’ve never seen a guy that big with that type of touch, that type of technical ability. It was unheard of. To see that every day in training was really special for me. He was very demanding of his team-mates and I think some guys in MLS weren’t used to that kind of accountability, so there would be some friction there, but we all knew at the end of the day that he was about winning and he would do whatever it takes to win.

What does St. Vincent & the Grenadines the country itself mean to you?
This is my roots, this is my culture, this is where I’m from. Even when I played, I wore a shirt that said 100 per cent Vincent. I truly believe that and wherever I go I try to promote this country. Now I have the opportunity to come and teach these young men the game of football and how to be successful in the game of football, drawing from my experiences, winning MLS Cups as a player and coach… Giving them something to look up to to aspire to, I think for me it’s a wonderful situation. I have grasped it with both hands and it’s all about uplifting this country, because this country is what I am about and together I think this team can put St. Vincent & the Grenadines back on the world stage of football.