O'Neil Odle, stickfighting in my blood

O'Neil Odle at the Welcome to the Gayelle - Debe competition where he won the crown. - Photo courtesy NCC

Born and raised in New Grant near Princes Town, O’Neil Odle carries his lineage into the gayelle every time he steps forward, stick in hand.

At 35, Odle is already a national champion, having captured the National Carnival Commission’s (NCC) King of the Rock stickfighting title on four occasions, alongside several regional victories.

So far this year, Odle won first prize at the NCC’s Welcome to the Gayelle competition at Debe Junction on January 10 and again in Moruga on January 3. With the final leg of the Welcome to the Gayelle carded for January 17 and the National stickfighting finals set for February 9, Odle is the man to beat.

He has been a stickfighter for 16 years, but his exposure to the sport came long before he ever competed.

As a boy, he would watch matches on King’s Wharf in San Fernando, absorbing the rituals and discipline of the art form because stickfighting runs in his family.

His late grandfather, Middle “Congo Bara” Odle, and his father, Middle Jr Odle, were both respected fighters. He said Congo Bara was his inspiration, and his father left a lasting impression as the King of Sixth Company Village for several years.

He also grew up watching his cousin, Anderson Marcano, the reigning national title holder, and carrying around his stick, though at the time Odle himself was not convinced the sport was for him.

“I grow up seeing them stick fight, but I never like it for me. In primary and secondary school, I was boxing. I didn’t like the stickfighting because I find it was too brutal, but when you check it, both are brutal sports.”

O'Neil Odle, the Welcome to the Gayelle Moruga 2026 champion. - Photo courtesy NCC

Odle claimed he was unbeatable as a boxer. He said he fought opponents from TT and other Caribbean islands and never lost a bout. His matches, he recalled, rarely lasted long. In fact, he said his fights never went to a third round because he would finish them before they got there.

But that intensity eventually worked against him. His coach was not in the best of health and could not spar with him, while other trainees refused to spar with him because he did not pull his punches. Odle’s philosophy was simple: train at full force, because that was what a real fight demanded.

As a result, he found himself relegated to practising with a punching bag. And when he approached another coach for training, he was turned away for being too aggressive.

“But I said I want to be a king. I was born to lick down people, legally, because my father had about four crowns home.”

At age 18, in 2010, Odle made the decision to switch to stickfighting and started competing later that year at King’s Wharf. His mother was not pleased, and others tried to dissuade him, but his mind was made up.

The sport has taken its toll. He has been injured numerous times, including getting his head “buss” on four occasions. Yet his love for stickfighting remains undiminished as he enjoys the mental discipline as much as the physical punishment it delivers.

“You have to control your frustration and anger. You have to be focused. You can’t be studying nothing else. Because any time you go with things on your mind, or with vengeance or rage, you not studying to brace, you studying to hit, and you will get hit.

“That’s why you see fighters like myself, Marcano, Selwyn John, everybody calm because you have an aim. Your mind has to be sharp, or else that dance could be your last dance.”

Odle’s life outside the gayelle has been shaped by responsibility from an early age. He is the fourth of seven children and has two brothers, Ronald and Donald Lewis, who are also stickfighters.

His father died when Odle was just 13, forcing him to mature quickly. He began cutting cane and sending himself to school, later becoming a father figure to his siblings and helping to support them financially.

For secondary school, he went to live with his uncle. After leaving school, he secured a job at Petrotrin in Marabella, moved out on his own and continued assisting his family. Today, he works in construction and is the father of two daughters, aged ten and seven.

For Odle, stickfighting is more than competition or spectacle. It is about heritage, identity and continuity.

“Stickfighting comes from our ancestors, the Merikins, in the war in the 1800s. It’s about the lineage. It’s in the blood.”