Disappointed but far from disillusioned, Clay Smith is going to take the energy he would have thrown into being Bermuda Cricket Board president and channel it into his coaching.Smith will travel to England over the Christmas break to lay the groundwork for a move that he hopes will enable him to get his Level II and III ECB coaching badges.Not afraid to push the boundaries, the former Bermuda captain wants to immerse himself in as much cricket as possible and hopes to link up with Dorking Cricket Club next summer as part of furthering his education.“Coaching is something that I love to do more than anything,” said Smith. “Now that I have stopped playing I have really taken to coaching and I really want to see how far I can take myself.“I don’t believe in settling for mediocrity. I look to excel and push myself to a higher level. So, it’s a matter of getting over there and getting as much exposure and as much knowledge as possible and seeing what opportunities open up in the future, whether that be on local soil or overseas.”Already certified as a Level II coach by the West Indies Cricket Board, Smith wants to start again in the UK and believes that his passion and drive for coaching will eventually open up new opportunities for him in cricket.“Coaching’s not for everybody, that’s the reality of it,” said Smith. “They say good players don’t necessarily make good coaches, it’s something that has to be in you, a drive, a passion.“You have to want to do it, I think coaching at St David’s, Cleveland and St George’s, it has really shown me a lot and taught me a lot about the different characteristics of people that you have to deal with.“Coaching in Bermuda has really shown me a lot and now it’s just about going over to England, the home of cricket, and getting as much knowledge as possible.”His trip to the UK doesn’t mean that Smith will be turning his back on his country. Far from it, he still harbours dreams of being Bermuda’s national coach one day.However, he won’t be blind to the other paths that his journey may take him down.“I’m at a point where I’ll see what happens and go from there,” he said. “One door closes, another door opens, and who knows what the future holds.“Once I go over there something may open up for me, I’ll just take it one day at a time, but I’m not going to turn my back on my country because I feel that I have a lot to offer Bermuda in the future.”Ideally Smith would like more of the Island’s coaches to follow his lead and believes that an unwillingness to step outside the comfortable surroundings of Bermuda too often holds people back. Because of that Smith said he applauded Lorenzo Tucker, Bermuda’s new fast bowling coach, for expanding his cricket knowledge.“That is one thing that we as Bermudians, whether it be in cricket or in life generally, lack,” said Smith. “We are so used to just staying inside of our comfort zone, inside of a little comfortable box rather than stepping out and trying to progress and push ourselves.“As long as we’re comfortable then we’ll stay there. Lorenzo, I take my hat off to him.”There were other people who were asked to do that job who didn’t wish to do it because they’re just comfortable doing what they’re doing, rather than trying to elevate themselves.”