AFTER being one of Wolves main strikers and also starring at the NCAA Division II University of South Carolina (Spartanburg) team, Khari Sharieff knows what he wants - and what he expects from his players.

Sharieff stepped into the new role as head coach of newly promoted Premier team Hamilton Parish this season and so far he has won one and lost one. Parish won their opener against Devonshire Colts but came up the losers on the weekend against Southampton Rangers.

And if there is one thing that Sharieff learned at the University of South Carolina, it is that players need discipline.

"There is a right way and a wrong way to do things," said Sharieff who is also working on his Masters Degree in International Business.

"When I went away to university it really opened up my eyes to a lot of things - I played with a number of players who came from different countries and it really opened my eyes."

Now he has put his shooting boots away and is trying to guide his side in the Premier Division.

"I feel a different type of pressure than the pressure I felt while I was playing," said Sharieff. "It is no longer in your hands whether you can assist the team to win or lose on the field. You just hope you have covered all your bases in training. You hope the guys understand what you want during training and replicate it during the game. It is that type of stress. You just hope you have prepared your players well enough."

But the urge to play never leaves him. "Of course I always want to get out there and play - anytime I watch football that is how I feel. I let the guys know that my love for the game is so strong that it is hard to go out there and not play."

And he wants to have Hamilton Parish playing with discipline. "You cannot just go out there and knock it around without any discipline. You can't just go out and kick the ball around, cursing and shouting. I show them that it is a lot easier to have fun when you are winning. If you do the right things and train hard good things will come to you. And you must stick to the game plan. It is very important to keep to the game plan. Sometimes if things are not going right it is easy to start changing everything. But I do not think that is the correct way to go about it."

The 29-year-old coach said his time at the University of South Carolina was a great learning experience - not only in the classroom but also on the field.

"I have played with hundreds of foreign players - Iranians, Scandinavians, Australians, Brazilians, Russians. In my team we had about 10 nationalities." And he became a three-time All American during his university years.

"Playing there it really opened my mind up about football - it was a great experience and a great education."

He remembers when he first saw his teammates. "I saw these guys for the first time and they looked good - very good. I saw different types of playing from the Scandinavians who had this beautiful slide tackle - you are not running down the line on them! And then the Brazilians could stop a ball and flick it up in front of your face and you can't even touch it."

And from his success in the US, Sharieff said he wants to encourage other Bermudians to go for football scholarships. "From my successes out there I can tell these guys here in Bermuda to go ahead for the experience of college - for the education and the game itself.

"I made some very good contacts at the university - they know me and trust me and I know they will welcome some scholarship recipients. I know the standards that they are looking for. I have managed to get two people scholarships - one guy and a woman - so far. The school wants to recruit from Bermuda and the other islands. I am slowly starting the process now of finding some players. I know what they require as far SAT scores."

And one thing that Sharieff learned in South Carolina was discipline. "Anyone going over from Bermuda must know that they have to have discipline - that is so important. They have to attend every training session and must look neat. And they will also find that they will be playing against players who are better than they are. You really have to raise your game."

Sharieff was also impressed by what other countries did for their student athletes.

"Many of the guys, especially from Scandinavia, were sponsored to go to college from their countries."

The personal side initially was "difficult" said the Parish coach. "The communication was at first faulty. But I learned to shut my mouth and play the game."

One thing he has not been impressed with coming back to Bermuda is the set up at the BFA.

"I feel the BFA need to have a fresh start.

"I see where the game can be improved on in Bermuda. The BFA need to be more efficient. And they have to let people know what they are doing. They should let people know they need assistance. If you do they will get it. The BFA have had so many complaints against them over the years but they have never lost. You know what that tells me - it tells me that they are perfect and we all know no one is perfect!"

Sharieff said that the BFA should be using players like himself "who have been through many things".

He said: "They have abandoned the love of this game. For instance when we failed to make the World Cup we should have been planning immediately for the next campaign. We used to beat up on countries like Canada and now we have fallen behind. They have to get the national programme going. They have to inform everyone of their plans - all their plans. You can't just come out and say one day that we are going into the World Cup - just say it out of the blue."

And Sharieff also takes the BFA to task for the way they drug test players.

"They do not do it properly. I do not think there is fairness involved. They should take a look at Belco's policy - all their employees know the whole programme of drug testing. I have been to many drug tests while in school - the NCCA it is around the clock in drug testing but there is fairness involved. You are told that you will be drug tested, who will do it and the procedures. If one of the guys in my team tested positive the coach doesn't know immediately. The tester lets you know first. They give you a chance if you want out of the programme. If you don't then it gets taken to the next level and the coach becomes involved. We shouldn't have 17 year old kids written up in the newspaper for failing drug tests. Drug tests are not there to punish people but to deter peope who are using drugs. I don't see any positive coming out of the way we do it here."