Kieron promises to get T&T U15s to Aruba, mum on charter cost

Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards has promised that the National Under-15 team will get to Aruba to play in the Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship, which kicks off on Saturday.

Trinidad and Tobago are scheduled to face Barbados from 9am at Oranjestad on Monday 4 August. However, up until this morning, coach Densill Theobald’s team did not have a confirmed booking to travel.

Trinidad and Tobago players pose before kickoff against Jamaica during a top of the table meeting at the CFU Boys U-14 Series in Bacolet on 19 August 2024.
Photo: TTFA Media.

Edwards assured the team and football fans that they will get there, though.

“We will reach in [Aruba] before the deadline for the tournament, which is 2 August,” Edwards told Wired868. “We will be there for certain.”

Edwards did not respond when asked whether the team would travel to Aruba on a chartered flight. Wired868 understands that the TTFA and the Barbados Football Association (BFA) are trying to partner for a charter, with costs split between the two bodies.

TTFA president Kieron Edwards (front, left) and then Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis (front, right) meet the Trinidad and Tobago players before their CFU Boys U-14 Series contest with Aruba at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet on 17 August 2024.
Photo: TTFA Media.

The cost of a charter, according to a travel agent, could be anywhere from US$50,000 to US$125,000.

Wired868 understands that more than half of the participating Caribbean nations do have bookings to Aruba already in place. However, a few are in the same situation as the Trinidad and Tobago team.

The TTFA started shaping the National Under-15 team in December 2023, when the first screening sessions were held under the High Performance programme umbrella.

Theobald steered a 20-member team into the CFU U-14 Boys Series last August in Tobago before resuming training this May.

On Sunday 20 July, Theobald selected an 18-member squad for the Concacaf Championship, although the names have not yet been released to the public. However, manager Nigel Roberts quickly encountered issues as he tried to book flights in the middle of Aruba’s busy tourism season, which put the team on the brink of withdrawal.

Trinidad and Tobago players acknowledge the applause of supporters at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet during the 2024 CFU Boys U-14 Series.
Photo: TTFA Media.

Edwards insisted that the National Under-15s will not miss out on the Concacaf experience. The cost for their late travel arrangements remains uncertain.

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One comment

  1. Are any of the other participating countries experiencing a similar problem?? Surely it can’t be just TT!

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