Be the Mentor You Once Had

I have to start with a story about my mentor, Gerry.

When you go through the Canadian provincial teams, you meet a lot of coaches. Some are into tech and stats, but others, like Gerry Pennant, are a little more old-school. I remember when I was 13 years old, Gerry put me on the bench for this friendly game, and as goalie, you know your chances of playing are like 0.1%. So I leaned back in my seat and prepared to watch the game like a fan. 

Early in the first half, the ref stops the game. 

Our goalie is walking toward our bench. He’s coming off. 

Gerry turns on a dime, points at me and says, “You’re on.”

I’m like, “But … I haven’t warmed up yet.”

“DAYNE. GET ON.”

I find my gloves and jog onto the pitch, ice cold, totally unprepared. 

After the game, I see our goalie and he's completely fine. There is no injury. And then Gerry comes over and says, “Look, in an actual game, you won’t have time to warm up.”

Always be ready.

He made the sub to teach me that lesson. 

Gerry was the one who told me to be a goalkeeper. When I was 13, I was also playing as centerback for my club, and one day after training, when my parents were there, he said, “Dayne, it’s time to decide.”

Goalkeeper or defender. 

A call that would define my life as an athlete. 

Gerry was working with all the Ontario provincial teams, the step right below the national team, so he knew the road I needed to take to turn pro. 

“Your best position is in goal,” he said.

I looked at my parents. They just nodded. 

I said, “OK.”

Technically, I was way behind other goalies my age, because I had decided so late, but Gerry took me under his wing. When I trained with the team, he’d tell us to write down our sessions in a notebook, which he would then grade like a high school teacher. He’d order us to catch shots with our bare hands so that we didn’t rely too much on our gloves. One time, he wanted to make sure I held the ball firmly, so he kicked the ball as I held it, and he broke my pinky finger. Four weeks out. He was so upset. 

(Gerry, if you’re reading this, seriously, it’s OK!!!) 

When I finished with Team Ontario, he coached me in his spare time, right up until I hit my 20s. A few years ago, when I was starting my first game for Canada, at home in Toronto, I got him tickets, and he turned up with his son. 

But I think the real gift for him was seeing the hours and hours of guidance and shooting drills result in a Canada player that he had helped shape. 

That’s the beauty of mentorship.

When I succeed, so does he. 

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To be honest, I got into this by accident. 

Back in 2022, I went to an event with Big Brothers Big Sisters, a non-profit that pairs adult mentors with young people. I was supposed to fill in for a teammate, and now, three years on, I’m an ambassador for the Twin Cities branch, or what they call a "Game-Changer”. It’s been incredibly rewarding, and I’ve done more events than I can remember. One of the most special ones was a keynote speech I gave at a fundraiser in front of more than 500 people, because the night before, I’d gotten home from an away game at 3 am. I had no time to prepare what to say, so I walked out on stage and simply told my story from the heart. 

I’m the first one to say that, without mentors, I’d be in a very different place. 

I mean, as a kid, I was barely even thinking about playing for Canada or an MLS team. I was into Scottish football. 

My grandma is Scottish, a diehard Celtic supporter, and I think she even submitted pictures of me to Celtic fanzines. We’d watch the Old Firm together, and then I’d switch over to Arsenal or AC Milan. For me, it was all about Europe. I couldn’t even support Canada at the 2002 World Cup, because we had missed out, so my friends found second teams to follow through their parents or relatives — France, Italy, Brazil. 

What did I have? 

Grandma from Scotland. 

Dad from Trinidad and Tobago. 

Tough draw for me.

But then in November 2005, Trinidad qualified for its first World Cup by beating Bahrain. Our chance of surviving the group was one in a million, but try telling that to people in Trinidad — they declared a public holiday.

I knew how much it meant to them, because every couple of years, I’d go with my dad to Sangre Grande, a town in the northeast, where he grew up as the youngest of 12 siblings. It’s a real working-class area, the kind of place where everybody knows everybody, and our house was the gathering place for the whole community. I’ll never forget the plastic chairs in the backyard, the smell of grilled meat, Caribbean music playing, friends and neighbors talking as if they were the same blood. That’s how my dad grew up. 

And then one day when he was 20, he visited one of his sisters in Canada, and liked it so much that he moved there, too. 

So for the 2006 World Cup, our family was all-in on Trinidad. Of course, we finished last in our group, but every game was like a party. When we drew 0–0 against Sweden, it was like we beat Brazil. The really crazy part is that, years later, I was almost recruited to the Trinidad national team by their coach at the time, Dennis Lawrence. The same guy who scored the winner against Bahrain. This is when I needed another mentor, my dad. I was already in the Canada youth setup, and when we heard about the interest from Dennis, he said, “See how it goes with Canada first. Trinidad will always be there.”

Thanks, Dad. 

Believe it or not, Dennis is now our assistant coach at Minnesota. He’s still talking about that moment. “I tried to make you a national team player, and you turned me down!”

What can I say? It worked out alright for me. 

In 2021, I made my senior debut for Canada. 

In 2022, I was called up to the World Cup squad, our first in 36 years. 

In 2026, my dream is to walk out for the opening match in Toronto in front of my fellow Canadians. I want my parents to be there. I want Gerry to be there. I want us all to share that moment together. 

Until then, I want to pass on the lessons my mentors have given me.

I grew up watching my mom run community centers, so I know that this stuff works. But as a soccer player, it’s tricky to be a mentor for one person, because you never know how long you’ll stay in each place. I could mentor someone for years, and then one day I’d have to go, “Sorry kid, this was great, but I’ve got a new club.”

Yeah … that would break my heart. 

I try to be present in the community. Once when we had this cup game that wasn’t selling out, I bought tickets for a group of kids, and we arranged so that they would walk out with our players ahead of kickoff. Since I wasn’t playing that day, I was able to focus 100% on them — photos, autographs, hanging out. Some of them were a little shy, and had never been to a soccer game before, and others knew who I was and asked lots of questions. 

“Dayne, why are you not playing today?”

“What is it like being a goalkeeper?”

As we got ready to walk onto the field, you could see their eyes light up. When you’re about to see the stadium appear in front of you, and you can smell the grass … as soccer fans, we all know that feeling, right? When they came back in, I gave all of them a high-five, and then we watched the game together. I remember getting home that evening and thinking, Man, that was a cool day. 

But for many of those kids, that game will stay with them for life. I only fully realized that a few months later, when this aunt came over to me and said, “Thank you for what you did for my nephew. He still talks about it.”

One story can reach a hundred rooms. 

One piece of advice can help someone realize a dream. 

By being there for one person, you may help an entire family. 

This stuff works. I know it, I’ve seen it. Which is why it means so much to me that Audi will contribute $50,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was really cool because I was doing an event as I got the news, and I shared it with the staff right then. Some looked at me as if to say, “Woah, that’s a lot of money.”

And it is. 

When a brand like Audi steps up for you, it shows these kids that they matter. On a personal level, I know there are so many players in MLS doing amazing things in their community, so to be highlighted like this is a real honour. I hope this kind of recognition will also make the organization more known, because we need more mentors. 

We have a long list of kids waiting for guidance — young people who need a role model, or the older sibling they never had. You don’t have to be perfect to be a mentor. You just have to be present. 

Are you flawed? Have you made mistakes? Good. 

Often, it’s our errors that give us lessons to pass on.

Trust me, you’ll get so much back. I’ve seen matches become friends for life. I’ve seen mentors turn into bridesmaids and best men. This is a chance to be a hero in your community. 

If it sounds like I’m exaggerating, let me tell you one final story. Around Christmas in 2023, I went back to Sangre Grande for the first time in eight years, and as I was walking around with my dad, I noticed that he was getting all this attention. Everywhere we went, friends and strangers would treat him like a king. 

“Congrats, man!” 

“Proud of you.”

“You really did it.”

And then I realized that they were congratulating him because of me. They had followed my journey to MLS and the Canadian national team, and every time I was playing, his siblings had spread the news. He had left home as a young man, and now he was back with a son who had become a professional athlete. 

This was his crowning moment. As a dad. As a mentor. 

And since I had made it, it was like they all had. 

To me, that’s what community is about.

If one of us wins, we all do. 

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Audi Goals Drive Progress initiative supports MLS athletes making an impact off the pitch through financial contributions to nonprofit organizations that create sustainable communities, foster equity and inclusion, and enrich the lives of those in need. Through the Audi Goals Drive Progress fund, Audi will be contributing $50,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities in celebration of the work that both the organization and Dayne St. Clair do for their community. For more stories on Audi’s commitment to supporting MLS athletes and their community initiatives, please check out additional content from the “Celebrating Impact” series

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