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Less than 72 hours before the Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship kicks off across Costa Rica, Aruba and Curaçao, the Trinidad and Tobago outfit remain in Trinidad without a departure date.
The Concacaf Championship kicks off on Saturday while the Trinidad and Tobago National Boys’ Team open their campaign on Monday against Barbados in Aruba.
Photo: TTFA Media.
The problem, though, is how the players and technical staff get there.
“We have been speaking to different travel agencies and even looking at the possibility of a charter flight,” Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical director Anton Corneal told Wired868.
“Yes, we are carded to play. But to go to Aruba isn’t as easy as some may believe, especially in the month of August.”
Photo: TTFA Media.
The issue does not appear to be a financial one, although it can certainly be solved with money—if TTFA president Kieron Edwards is willing to pay extra for a chartered flight to Aruba.
The TTFA started preparations for this Concacaf tournament in December 2023, when the first screening sessions were held. Coach Densill Theobald then took 20 players into the CFU U-14 Boys Series in Tobago last August.
Theobald resumed training in earnest this May and, on Sunday 20 July, he selected his 18-member squad for the final competition.
However, late July is not an optimal time to be seeking flights to Aruba.
“I have an area of concern in terms of where these tournaments are being hosted and the time of the year,” said Corneal, who pointed to Aruba’s thriving tourism industry.
Photo: TTFA Media.
Corneal said he was unable to say why squad selections and, subsequently, bookings were done that late.
It is natural that the coach would want to delay naming his final squad as late as possible, as security against loss of form or injury to players. But how do you balance that with the bigger issue of ensuring that you can get plane tickets?
Wired868 spoke to one travel agent who explained that all airlines have different policies with regards to group travel. Copa Airlines, she said, would have been the most likely carrier to Aruba. And they charge a US$100 change fee with group travel, within a specific deadline.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Theobald, Wired868 understands, introduced four new faces to his squad that played in the 2024 CFU Boys’ Series. Had the local football body made early bookings, it might have cost US$400 for the required ticket changes.
Conversely, if the TTFA were to book a chartered flight now, it could cost anywhere between US$50,000 and US$125,000.
“We have to see how we will get there,” said Corneal, who noted the irony of travelling to Aruba to play Barbados, Bermuda and Antigua and Barbuda.
Photo: TTFA Media.
“The manager (Nigel Roberts) and the TTFA are working on it. It is dependent on how we will get there. We are asking travel agencies to help us but it is difficult.”
The young Soca Warriors are in Group E of League B, which is the second tier of the Concacaf U-15 competition.
League A comprises eight North and Central American nations selected based on Men’s Under-17 ranking, according to Concacaf, who are (in order of ranking): Mexico, the United States, Canada, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua, along with guest nation Saudi Arabia.
Richardson also represented his country at the 2025 Concacaf U17 Championship.
Photo: TTFA Media.
Haiti, who are seventh in the Concacaf U-17 ranking, were the only Caribbean nation invited to participate in League A. However, the war-torn nation withdrew from the competition.
It is uncertain at this stage whether Trinidad and Tobago—ranked 15th in Concacaf at Under-17 level—may also be forced to withdraw, for entirely different reasons. The parents of two current National Under-15 players shared their concern with Wired868 over the uncertainty of the situation.
“It is out of our hands and we are doing our best,” said Corneal. “Fingers crossed that something will work out.”
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868.
Trinidad and Tobago did not participate in the inaugural Concacaf Under-15 Championship in 2013, during a period of financial uncertainty for the local football body.
However, the two-island republic was represented in the following four editions of the competition.
Does the Concacaf youth tournament matter?
Photo: Concacaf.
Having missed the chance to take part in the 2013 Concacaf Under-15 Championship, Trinidad and Tobago—with the likes of Keston Julien, Noah Powder, Isaiah Garcia and Darnell Hospedales in their squad—finished below Haiti and Saint Lucia at the 2015 Caribbean Under-17 qualifying stage and then were bottom of a six-team group that included Cuba and Jamaica at the Concacaf stage.
Haiti, Saint Lucia, Cuba and Jamaica all sent teams to the 2013 Concacaf U-15 competition, which the TTFA skipped.
Trinidad and Tobago did not win a game at either the 2017 or 2019 Concacaf Under-15 tournaments.
Photo: TTFA Media.
However, in 2023, the young Soca Warriors won two of their four Concacaf Under-15 outings—with wins over Costa Rica and Qatar. And, two years later, the core of that squad came within 90 minutes of a spot at the 2026 Fifa Under-17 World Cup.
Theobald was assistant coach to Shawn Cooper in the 2023 Under-15 Championship. He is due to make his Concacaf debut as an international head coach in Aruba—just days after quitting his post at the helm of the Defence Force.
It is not quite certain yet whether he will get there.
Photo: TTFA Media.
Wired868 tried unsuccessfully to get comment from TTFA president Kieron Edwards and general secretary Kareem Paul.
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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.
