Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
A late protest threatened to produce a final unexpected twist to the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division honour role, as a Shiva Boys Hindu College challenge against Presentation College (San Fernando) offered a glimmer of hope to relegation-threatened San Juan North Secondary.
Presentation forward James Alex Lee Yaw was at the centre of the furore as Shiva Boys questioned whether his academic qualification were sufficient for him to represent his school in the SSFL last season.
Presentation won on kicks from the penalty mark.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Lee Yaw, who was born in the United States to a Trinidadian father, began his local school life in Lower Six at Presentation. However, he got seven subjects at Grade 12, which is supposedly the American equivalent of the CXC test.
The SSFL rules stipulate that a player must have four CXC passes to represent his school in Lower Six.
Presentation had already lost one protest last season over the use of Trinidad and Tobago National Under-20 defender Kori Cupid, who was ineligible to compete due to the year he entered secondary school. Cupid played roughly one quarter of his school’s games and the ruling meant that the “Pres Lions” dropped from second to fifth in the final standings.
Had Lee Yaw been also deemed an illegitimate player, Presentation would have been relegated. However, the SSFL credentials committee, appeals committee and, ultimately, the Ministry of Education’s accreditation committee all declared the teenager to be a legitimate student.
The decision meant Presentation held on to the South Zone Intercol title, which they won after edging Shiva Boys on kicks from the penalty mark. And, better yet, they remain a top flight team for the upcoming season.
However, it is likely to be the final nail in the coffin for San Juan North, who finished one place and a solitary point above the relegation zone at the end of the season, only to have the rug pulled from under their feet as protests against Cupid and East Mucurapo Secondary defender Abdus Ramcharan—who had three CXC passes—saw points belatedly awarded to Queen’s Royal College and Fatima College.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
QRC and Fatima both leapfrogged San Juan North to escape demotion while East Mucurapo dropped places to the foot of the 15-team table where they will also be relegated along with Pleasantville Secondary.
Presentation coach Shawn Cooper said he was never worried about the Shiva Boys protest.
“I think Shiva Boys have to know, just like us, that you win some and you lose some,” Cooper told Wired868. “They were a bit disturbed when they lost to us in the South Intercol final and the Big Four semifinal. So they decided to go that route…
“We only played the boy after he was granted permission by the Ministry and the Secondary Schools board. The boy was in school and we didn’t play him until he was cleared. He is a legal student of the school, so I don’t know what the protest was really about.”
The dust has finally cleared from the protest board and it does not look good for San Juan North. SSFL president William Wallace confirmed that there is no scheduled meeting to consider a special provision to keep the National Intercol champions up and play with an additional Premier Division school next season.
The only delay in the final decision for the boys from Bourg Mulatresse is due to the wait in getting signatures from the relevant arbitrators.
(Courtesy Annalicia Caruth/Wired868)
It will be the second time that the reigning Intercol champions were relegated, after East Mucurapo managed the dubious distinction in 2014. But the off-field circumstances make San Juan North’s fall much harder to swallow.
Cooper said he sympathised with San Juan North, although he felt Presentation had been unfairly castigated in certain quarters for an inadvertent error regarding Cupid.
“When you see talk about banning a school for information it doesn’t have, you know people are speaking on emotion,” said Cooper. “It is unfortunate for San Juan the way things spun out but it was just the luck of the draw… I wouldn’t have liked to be in San Juan’s position. It is very unfortunate.”
Wallace told Wired868, in a previous interview, that the SSFL has requested office space from the Ministry of Sport and hopes to have a full-time secretariat in place for the upcoming season, which should help to lessen the likelihood of similar post-season upheavals.
“We are now 50 years old and we have been operating out of a car trunk for that time,” said Wallace. “With $2 million annually coming into this league, it is about time we have a steady secretariat. Some of the problems we have been having in the past were probably because [we did not have] that.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA Images/Wired868)
“Also we want to have a computerised database [which will] eliminate some of the problems that happened last season… We already have somebody setting up the required databases for us.”
Cooper said he urged the SSFL to hire office staff for years and was happy to hear that it is finally a priority.
“Instead of allowing things to happen and then penalising, [the SSFL should be able to] call the school beforehand and warn about possible issues,” said Cooper. “San Juan didn’t do anything wrong and they got demoted because documents went in from another school that were not checked. I’m not blaming anyone but we have to get tighter in the running of the league.”
In 2016, Presentation was runner-up in the National Intercol and Big Four finals while they were second in the Premier Division before the Cupid protest. Cooper insisted it was a great season for the San Fernando school.
“We exceeded our expectations in getting into all the finals,” he said. “I don’t think trophies alone is the benchmark for success. If your child doesn’t come first in test, [you will tell them] they failed?”
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) Safeguarding manager Gary St Rose has defended the integrity of the local body’s operation Read more
The Unified Football Coaches of Trinidad and Tobago (UFCTT) has defended Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team head coach Read more
“[…] The Presentation College San Fernando Past Students’ Association does not wish to speculate on the matter or matters that Read more
Trinidad and Tobago Safeguarding manager Gary St Rose has banned Men’s National Under-17 team head coach Shawn Cooper from coaching Read more
Are the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team failures for their inability to defeat Costa Rica in their own Read more
Trinidad and Tobago could not take the final qualifying spot at stake for the Qatar 2025 Fifa U-17 World Cup, Read more
Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
You couldn’t even change school to repeat without at least three passes back in my day I think.
San Juan situation is unbearable to swallow how can a team get relegated for something they did not do they did no wrong but is being punished what kind of organization constitution or disciplinary committee allows something like that. It’s like being charged for a crime the neighbour commit. Crazy SSFL
The other argument would be that San Juan North just did not get enough points to be safe. As disappointing as it obviously is to be relegated after you thought you had done enough.
When teams are competing in a league they always watching the table and teams that not in a position to win or place themselves in the top four may just do enough to survive the relegation zone so once they know they have enough points to survive they sometimes use the opportunity to let younger players gain a bit of experience. I am not saying that this was the case with San Juan I don’t know but it is possible.
That was a shocker….. 🙂
The protest?
no the result of the protest… (remember the source of the comment…. heheh)
Lol
These schools just using the kids and don’t care what happens to them after school
Kids and their parents/guardians should not let this happen. They have to use the schools to get an education..
I agree the parents have to take blame also
So four subjects for football to write A levels and the rest is five plus. So these footballers going on to A levels with out full certificate or five pass.
Which is nonsense in my book. One standard should define eligibility across the board for academics and extracurricular activities. That’s a recipe for chaos, not to mention an equal opportunities lawsuit waiting to happen.
When did this protest happen?
This one blindsided you?
Was it always 4 passes to get into 6th Form?..thought was 5.
I remember needing five and that Maths and English A had to be two of the five. At least in Pres back in my times.
It was five but not just passes 1’s or 2’s….or A’s or B’s…but I guess all that was once upon a time….
From my time in Fatima College between 1984 and 1991, at least five passes inclusive of Mathematics and English A.
Damn ….I remember 5 1’s and 2’s Maths and English a must have …smfh
While I am glad that my Alma mater is in the clear concerning this issue, I think that there are several aspects of the matter that need addressing. And not just the lack of a full time secretariat. I honestly feel that there should be a unified rule concerning what qualifies an individual to be a bona fide student at the school. Because it appears that eligibility criteria differs widely if the student wants to represent the school in football, cricket, chess, choir, debating, Maths Olympiad, etc.
Also, in this instance, one must realise that there has to be some level of equivalent academic qualifications for a student coming from outside of T&T’s school system.
SSFL – the ball has been booted deep in your half; let’s see if you can carry it forward to scoring positive goals for the league!
Btw the kid any relation to Jerome Lee Yaw who played for Naps late 80’s-early 90’s?
Lasana Liburd he has a powerful snapshot as well
Yep. That’s his son!
Doh make joke..and he let him play for Pres? Lol
Lol. Good point. Wonder how he would have fit in for Naps. I never saw his dad play but James is a real old school type centre forward. None of that false nine nonsense here. Lol.
Yeah seems like he suits the Pres long ball tactics..looks like a basketball player too. His father was a good midfielder back in the day.
Yeah. But he is useful and good in the box. Interesting to see how defenders get unaccustomed to certain types of players. Most schools like Shiva, Naps and so on have mobile frontmen who were converted wingers generally.
Very good. We should interview him next season. I wonder what his football goals are… Scholarship or pro…
I’d say whereever there is opportunity there is ambition 🙂
His dad is Jerome Lee Yaw … I played with him in College …trust me when I tell you …. he was (and still is) a major talent … he was an All American at Gardner Webb University.
I’m surprised that he is here at all. I’m assuming his family returned home. And surely he will be heading back to the US soon on scholarship.
His Dad wanted to give him an exposure to something different footballing wise and culturally and he has alot of fate in the coaching staff who he rates. He is a really cool kid … just like his dad.
Steups!!!
We beating dem one way or another!
Big wet watery STEUPS ?
??
Lol. My money was on Damian R. Scott commenting first. You beat him to it!
Lol.
Ah was busy … but the comment is coming!!!!!!!!! At least a fellow Pres Man breasted the tape …