CHILDHOOD

Ernst Cleophat was born and raised in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.  He is one of the ten children of Jean and Lyda Cleophat.  He grew up in Delmas, Haiti where he spent most of his childhood playing little league soccer, inter-school soccer and winning several championships and tournaments throughout the surrounding cities and provinces, such as Petion-Ville, Carrefour, Pernier, Belle-Anse, Gonaives, Hinche, and Saint Mark, just to name a few.  In Haiti, the most successful youth soccer club he played for was Bric-A-Brac.  His skills as a young soccer player baffled the minds of many, especially his head coach and class teacher Mr. Roger Belizaire who was always in awe by this young man's talents.  Ernst Cleophat led his class to five championship titles before heading to College  Philadelphia High School.  Among his peers he is known as Tom Foot, this name was given to him and stuck with him to this very day because of his technical style, his tactical and creative skills as a player, and more importantly he played the game with  passion.

HIGH SCHOOL

Ernst Cleophat attended Boston English High School in Boston, Massachusetts and was a four year varsity starter and a four year letter winner under head Coach Julio Avila the former Head Men's Soccer Coach at Emmanuel College in Boston, MA .  Ernst was the team's captain his junior and senior years, he was named to the State's 1985-1986 all area team, earned first team all-conference and all-area honors, 1987 adidas elite soccer program invitee and all-star, ranked first all-time in scoring at Boston English High School, he scored a total of 135 goals to be exact.  He was a dominant force on the soccer pitch and he was unstoppable during his four years career at the High School level.  In 1987 he was named the league all-area player of the year and was the region champs, then in 1988 EHS was once again  the region champs and that same year he led Boston English High School to their first State Championship and was once again named the league all-area player of the year as well as the 1988 High School Player of The Year.  His senior year at Boston English High School he was elected President of the bi-langual club, Ernst Cleophat is fluent in seven languages.

COLLEGE

Cleophat's dominance on the soccer field continued throughout his Collegiate career.  After graduating from Boston English High School he went on to attend Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts in the Fall of 1988.  His freshman year at Suffolk University, as a member of the men's soccer team under Head Coach Dave Greenblott, he scored eleven goals in ten games; he finished the season with 23 goals and 9 assists, something that's never been done by a player in school history.  The talented striker and team captain also earned Rookie of The Year.  He had numerous selections as a player of the week during his days at Suffolk University.  He was and still is Suffolk University's leading scorer of all time with a total of 108 goals, earning team MVP and Conference Player of the Year Award as team's captain.  He received many awards throughout his Collegiate career, including the Most Outstanding Player Award as a Sophomore.  He is one of the best soccer players that's ever landed on the Hill at Suffolk University, he is an exceptional talent, arguably he is the best I've ever seen, thus says his long time friend Suffolk University Director of Athletics Mr. James E. Nelson.  As a sophomore in 1989 under Head Coach Vito Catillo he shocked the College Soccer Community when he scored three goals against DI Northeastern University, DIII Suffolk University beat DI Northeastern University 3-0.  Ernst Cleophat was a Business Management major at Suffolk University he also studied Egyptology (Theology, History and Comparative Religious Studies as well as Semitic Languages) in Egipt.  Ernst Cleophat studied and read many books and has done a lot of research on many different subjects.  He even studied Martial Arts, which is something he was very passionate about besides soccer as a young kid in Haiti, and earned a black belt in Judo.  He was a member of the African Book Club at Suffolk University and a member of the Black Student Union.  He is inducted into the Suffolk University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday May 7, 2009.

PROFESSIONAL SOCCER CAREER

Ernst Cleophat made his professional debut at the age of 16 for Aigle Noir FC and received the young professional player award by the League.  He played professional soccer in his homeland Haiti, in Brazil, France and Germany from the age of 16 to 32.  As a professional soccer player, playing alongside one of his older brothers was a thrilled, he helped his team Aigle Noir win the league championship three years in a row, then he went on to sign with another high profile soccer Club - Santos FC where he played for 5 seasons before his retirement.  He traveled the world to Africa, North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.  Soccer is in his blood, two of his older brothers also played professional soccer, and taught him the fundamental of the game that turned him into the super star that he indeed was.  His cousin Lucson Corriolan is a former Haitian International soccer player who played for one of the most popular Club teams in Haiti, DI Violette AC.  Ernst Cleophat played with and against some of the world's best soccer players while overseas.  He played for Santos FC for 5 seasons and recorded a total of 72 goals and had 19 assists.  He had a successful professional career that lasted for sixteen years.  Defenders described him as one of the toughest strikers to face because of his speed and sudden foot creativity.  Among his peers he is known to be smart, caring, creative, compassionate and very humble.  He is respected and admired by many.

COACHING CAREER

Ernst Cleophat is a former Head Coach and Assistant Coach for the Augusta Arsenal Soccer Club from 2002 - 2005 and has won different State tournaments, he has coached different age group and gender from U-12 to U19 during his tenure at the Club level.  He has worked and done numerous camps and clinics all over the country.  He is worked a Soccer Clinic at the Augusta Arsenal Soccer Club when the former United States Women National Team Member and Captain Carla Overbeck visited the Club.  Currently, Ernst Cleophat is involved in all aspects of the soccer program at Evans High School in Evans, GA, from JV boys/girls to varsity boys/girls.  In the spring of 2005 during Ernst Cleophat first season at Evans High School, he immediately helped make history and put the High School on the soccer map.  The Boys Varsity Soccer Team made it to the State Final Four, first time in school history.  The 2006 season they ranked 4^th  in the State, first time in school history and compiled a 16-2-2 record, best finished in school history.  Then came the girls varsity team, they got their best start in school history with an 11-0-1 record and finished the season with a 12-3-1 record in 2005, best finished in school history.  The 2006 season, the girls varsity soccer team made it to the State sweet sixteen, first time in school history.  Most players he has coached and helped coach at the Club and High School level are now playing DI and DII College Soccer, such as Chad Strader of Georgia Southern University, Joey Ralph of Georgia Southern University.  Matt Cranford of  Mercer University, Thomas Knerr of Mercer University, Connor Ardrey of University of South Carolina Aiken, Allie Young of University of South Carolina Aiken, Alyx Shultz of Cumberland University, Emily Belchyk of Brevard College and Tarah Henderson of Mississippi State University, just to name a few.  After a successful 2005 Spring soccer season at Evans High School, Ernst Cleophat was offered the opportunity to coach at a DI Institution, but decided to start the Women's Soccer Program at Suffolk University.  This is something he's always wanted to do because of the fact that Suffolk University has never had a women's soccer program in it‘s history.  The program spent the 2005 and the 2006 seasons under club status, then the following year in the Fall of 2007 he led the women's soccer program to their inaugural season in the GNAC Conference.  Although his team finished their inaugural season with a 2-11-0 record (11^th place out of 13 teams), Ernst Cleophat stated that "the 2007 season was not about wins and losses, I am doing my best to build a solid program here at Suffolk University, once word gets out we will have more experienced players", he said.  The 2008 Fall season has proved his statement to be a fact, they finished their second season in 9^th position with an overall record 5-9-0, 4-8-0 GNAC, his team missed the GNAC playoffs by one set-back, only the top 8 teams were chosen for the playoffs.  However, Coach Ernst Cleophat is very proud of his young squad, they play with a lot of heart and determination.  In fact, one of his top recruits "Leslie Hayden" was the 2008 GNAC Rookie of The Year, selected GNAC All-Conference Second Team and voted to the All-Conference Sportsmanship Team by her teammates.  Leslie Hayden also received the GNAC Rookie of the Week once in September and the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll once in October.  Last Fall 2008 she was the second leading goal scorer in our Conference and is the Conference leader in points per game (2.64).  Under Coach Ernst Cleophat's direction, the 2007-08 Suffolk University women's soccer team was recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) with a Team Academic Award.  In their first year as a varsity squad, the women's soccer team posted a team GPA of 3.25.  Suffolk was one of 259 College women's teams to receive this recognition.  "I always tell my players, here at Suffolk University your academics are your first priority, everything else is second.  I am very proud of them," Cleophat said.

COACHING LICENSES

Although he played the game at the highest level and wanted to become a better coach, Ernst Cleophat went on to earn his coaching licenses.  He is a USSF and NSCAA licensed coach.  He is a member of the NSCAA, also a member of the NSCAA Black Soccer Coaches Committee.  As a certified High School Coach, he is awarded by the Georgia High School Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations in cooperation with the American Sport Education Program.  As a College Coach and for the sake of his student-athletes, he went on to earn his Certification in CPR/AED.

ENTREPRENEUR/HUMANITARIAN

Ernst Cleophat is a very successful Entrepreneur who owns his own Egiptian Market Businesses as well as an investor among other things.  In 2002 he was awarded Business Person of The Year by the Chamber of Commerce because of his contribution to his Community and as a global Humanitarian for his magnanimous efforts, he finds his greatest joy in helping others.  He is a business member of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Chamber of Commerce Round Table Group.  He is a leader in his community, he demonstrates initiative to aid in Haiti, Africa, North and South America through use of personal and financial resources.  He appeared several times on  TV in Georgia donating funds to different organizations, him and his colleagues brought a moment of joy to the Augusta Children Medical Center that was aired on NBC in December 2002.  He helped raise money for March for Dimes, Breast Cancer, The American Cancer Association, etc.  Ernst Cleophat is the CEO, President and Founder of "The Ernst Cleophat International Soccer Academy, a Non Profit Organization for Underprivileged Children.  Ernst Cleophat has a program called "Free Will Offering Soccer Equipments", he collects cleats, socks, shin guards, soccer balls, ball bags, disc cones, soccer t-shirts, shorts and everything else that deals with the beautiful game of soccer for the purpose of distribution to different soccer organizations in Haiti, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Jamaica, Brazil for underprivileged children.  Cleophat says he coaches as a way of giving back to the sport that has played such an integral part in his life.  "I coach for the love of the game and the enjoyment of teaching and interacting with my players," he said.  Lastly, Ernst Cleophat is married - him, his wife and their children reside in Augusta, Georgia.  Though, there's more about Ernst Cleophat, the above are the most notable and prestigious.