Seepersad must resign! Distraught Scarborough open up on SSFL ‘betrayal’

The Secondary School Football League (SSFL) Disciplinary Committee’s ruling to penalise Scarborough Secondary for fielding sixth form student Johan Elliot in their final Premier Division fixture against San Juan North Secondary left the Tobago school distraught for multiple reasons.

First, it spoiled a remarkable comeback. When Scarborough Secondary replaced head coach Hayden Ryan with the school’s Under-16 coach, Ellis “Mr Simple” Hayling, they were second from bottom of the standings with one win and six points from 11 games.

For their next four outings, Scarborough went unbeaten, with draws against Queen’s Royal College (0-0) and Trinity College (Moka) (2-2) and a 4-1 win away to Trinity College East before their dramatic 1-0 triumph over San Juan North, in front of their own supporters at Shaw Park on Monday 15 December.

Hayling was a hero—until the ruling.

The second reason that the Disciplinary Committee’s judgment hit Scarborough hard is because they were explicitly, they insist, told that they could play Elliot by SSFL assistant secretary – administration Laurence Seepersad.

And it had been Seepersad’s job for years to handle the registration of players for the SSFL.

Tobago zonal secretary and Signal Hill Secondary teacher Syandene Blackman-Walsh, who sits alongside Seepersad on the SSFL executive committee, confirmed that Seepersad said Scarborough were allowed to play Elliot—although the student represented Eagles FC in a Tobago Football Association (TFA) Premier Division match on 7 December 2025.

“We didn’t even approach them to ask if he could play, at first,” said Salisha James, a Scarborough Secondary teacher and the football team manager.

“They sent that info to us [through the Tobago Secretary]. She reported it back to me and I informed our principal and coach.”

The school term ended on Friday 12 December and Blackman-Walsh told her fellow executive members, in advance, that Tobago schools would not play during the vacation—since, she reasoned, teachers should not be obligated to manage school affairs outside of the term.

It was with that context that Seepersad reached out to James, on Thursday 11 December, and tried to convince her to have Scarborough host San Juan North in a rescheduled game.

Scarborough were not training at the time and three of their players were in Trinidad for a youth football competition. (Two of them, Ozil James and Jesuron Woods, made it back in time for the game, while the third, winger J-Barie Wells, could not get a flight.)

But Seepersad, James said, was adamant, and informed them that San Juan North had already purchased airline tickets to travel to Tobago on Monday 15 December.

James deputised her zonal secretary, Blackman-Walsh, to further discussions on Scarborough’s behalf.

Scarborough, remember, were in their first ever season in the Premier Division. So, James was happy to lean on advice from persons more knowledgeable with top flight operations than herself.

Blackman-Walsh raised Elliot’s situation during that discussion with Seepersad. She had heard that some Scarborough players returned to their zonal clubs, as the TFA competition kicked off in December—more than a month after what should have been the last SSFL Premier Division match.

Two years earlier, a registration issue with Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School and Moruga Secondary—with Seepersad again involved, along with fellow executive member Gerald Elliot—meant that the Big Five competition did not kick off until the following January.

The SSFL took the decision not to void the registration of players from the Big Five schools who represented their clubs, as the case went from the Disciplinary Committee to the Appeals Committee and, finally, to an Arbitration Panel.

Blackman-Walsh wanted to know if that precedent could be used in Scarborough’s case, since the game was also outside of the school term.

“I told him (Seepersad) there was a possibility that some boys had started playing TFA,” Blackman-Walsh told Wired868, “and he nonchalantly said to me: that’s okay they could play.”

Having been assured by Seepersad that there would not be an issue if Scarborough played Elliot against San Juan North, Blackman-Walsh relayed the news to James.

James was still nervous about doing anything that might affect Scarborough’s bid to avoid relegation.

“Are you sure?” James asked the Tobago secretary. “I feel this is a setup.”

Blackman-Walsh suggested to James that she call Seepersad herself “to clarify”. So, she did.

“This was our last chance—San Juan needed to draw or win; we needed to win,” said James. “We had no issues with not playing the child. If they left it alone and told us nothing, that child would have never played.

“But if the bosses said he could play…”

James said Seepersad echoed what Blackman-Walsh reported on the matter. Elliot could play. So, Scarborough would be able to use one of their best players in a must-win game.

And that brings us to the third and final reason that Scarborough Secondary felt utterly betrayed by the Disciplinary Committee’s ruling.

When the SSFL wrote Scarborough on Tuesday 27 January 2026, to inform the school that the Disciplinary Committee awarded the win to San Juan North for the Tobago team’s breach of the rules, the letter was signed by: Laurence Seepersad, assistant secretary administration.

“Why do we have someone on the executive that cannot be trusted—that does not know the rules?!” James asked. “That would advise one way and rule another way?!

“The same man who said to us that the boy could play is the man who signed off on the letter punishing us for playing him! I am calling on him to resign.

“If I asked you a question and you don’t know [the answer], what you will do? You wouldn’t call your other executive members and ask? How could he do that to Scarborough?!”

Scarborough assistant coach Kern Thomas, a PE teacher at Roxborough Secondary, said the coaching staff was led to believe—based on the conversation between James and Seepersad—that they could play Elliot, based on the precedent used for players in the 2023 Big Five competition, which kicked off in January 2024.

However, there was a difference between the two scenarios, which still appeared to evade Seepersad, even after the Disciplinary Committee’s ruling earlier this week.

“The Disciplinary Committee also agree (sic) that there must be some amendment to Article 16,” stated Seepersad. “Even [though] we agree that this player broke the rule, we also agree that the league has gone pass (sic) the period where all games should have been played.

“Therefore, an amendment to this rule will certainly protect all players if the league reaches a similar situation, where games aren’t completed in the period set by the league.”

In fact, Article 10 of the SSFL Constitution states: “the playing season [runs] from September to December”.

There is no stipulation that the season ends on the last day of school, as Seepersad and the Disciplinary Committee appeared to assume. So, the decision to allow student – athletes to regain their registration after playing with clubs in January 2024 could not apply to Elliot in December 2025.

Seepersad was not present at the Disciplinary Committee meeting, which was chaired by Essiel Seecharan and included Gerald Elliot (no relation) and Trevor Bridglalsingh.

Incidentally, San Juan North’s case was almost tossed out within minutes.

The East Zone school’s protest was that Scarborough violated the rules by playing Elliot in their Premier Division contest, although the midfielder had represented Eagles FC a week earlier.

Seecharan allegedly asked San Juan representative Stephen Clarke, a school teacher, whether he had proof to support his claims.

Clarke, Wired868 understands, retorted that his school reported a potential rule breach, but it should be the SSFL that investigates the matter—not San Juan North.

Incidentally, all zonal football bodies operate using the TT Connect system, which compiles all team lists and match reports electronically at the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

And the TTFA headquarters is in the same building as the SSFL office.

Seecharan had only to ask the SSFL assistant secretary – administration to walk downstairs and collect a printout of the Eagles match sheet from the TTFA.

Of course, the SSFL assistant secretary – administration, Seepersad, should have known full well that Elliot played for the Eagles—because the school told him as such.

If San Juan North’s case failed, Seepersad’s faulty advice to Scarborough might have remained hidden.

But Clarke did have a team sheet of the relevant Eagles match.

And Article 16 was unequivocal: “a player shall not play in another Trinidad and Tobago Football Association affiliated league after one’s first game in the Secondary Schools Football League. Failure to abide by the rule will result in the loss of points for each game the player takes the field.”

There was nothing anyone could do to save Scarborough, according to the Constitution, once there was proof that Elliot broke the rules.

For the past six weeks, James tried to calm anxious parents and players, with regard to San Juan North’s protest.

“I told them don’t let allyuh heart be troubled,” she said. “It is the SSFL who gave that instruction to play Elliot.”

After the Disciplinary Committee meeting, but before the judgment, Blackman-Walsh said she contacted SSFL president Merere Gonzales for a word on Seepersad’s alleged advice.

Gonzales, she said, replied that: “no one person could advise you to do something that goes against the constitution”.

When Seepersad relayed the Disciplinary Committee’s judgment to Scarborough, on Tuesday, it was the first time that the school heard from him since San Juan North lodged their protest.

“Seepersad never contacted the school since then,” said James. “He never made an apology, never held himself accountable—nothing.

“This is affecting all of our players, the school, the community. You had a right, if a question is asked, to find out before you make a response.”

The SSFL missive to Scarborough relaying the bad news from the Disciplinary Committee, incidentally, was addressed to: San Juan North Secondary acting principal Dabrielle Nurse.

Seepersad, or the SSFL administrative staff, did not bother to change the heading of the report sent to San Juan North, as a matter of courtesy, and simply sent the same document to the Tobago school.

It was, James felt, adding insult to injury.

She noted too that, in the Disciplinary Committee meeting, Clarke revealed that San Juan North did not yet purchase tickets when Seepersad called Scarborough.

James suggested that was another example of how the SSFL administrators treat the schools.

“They pushed it down our throats that we had to play that Monday,” she said. “So, our principal had to ask teachers to come out on a holiday to supervise a game. All because a simple thing like sitting down and scheduling a game they can’t do in a timely manner.

“This is happening too many times and nobody is held accountable. It is ridiculous. If they can’t do it, then they shouldn’t be on the executive.”

Notably, even today, there is no scheduled date for Signal Hill’s final Premier Division match against St Augustine Secondary, which will decide whether St Augustine or Malick Secondary are relegated, alongside Scarborough and Carapichaima East Secondary.

The Girls Big Five final and the Boys National Under-16 final also don’t have kick off dates while the Boys Big Five is also incomplete—although the outstanding Boys Big Five match between Speyside Secondary and Presentation College (Chaguanas) will not affect which three schools are promoted to the 2026 Premier Division competition.

The National Boys Under-14 final, between Naparima College and Signal Hill, should be played this afternoon.

Most of the SSFL’s postponements last season involved inter-island travel, with the Trinidad teams complaining about financial issues.

James, stung by the Seepersad affair, is not willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

“How come the Trinidad teams all found money to come and play Scarborough, but couldn’t find it when they had to play Signal Hill?” James asked. “Sometimes when teams said there were no plane tickets, we checked the [Caribbean Airlines] group desk and there were tickets.

“It was a big delay tactic and the SSFL should check into that. Why could we and Compre (Signal Hill) make it to all of our away games and the Trinidad teams can’t?”

Scarborough were overjoyed to qualify for the Premier Division for the first time, as it meant exposure for their talented students. But the experience soured for the “Blue Marlins” since then.

“Maybe we were not ready for the deceptive strategies and tactics that happened,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting that you could talk to people who supposed to know the rules and then have things like this happen.

“We took people word as it is. I didn’t believe at first (that we could play Elliot), but if you hear from someone’s mouth that this is what it is, who am I to not believe?”

Thom, who was one of Hayling’s three assistants along with Vernon Wilson and goalkeeper coach Maurice Goddard, said his players are “absolutely distraught”.

He feels let down by the SSFL administration.

“We did not try to cheat,” said Thom, who is co-founder, president and head coach of the RSS Phoenix Youth and Sports Club. “You see other people cheat and get caught over the years—that’s not what we did.

“Why doesn’t the letters (from the Disciplinary Committee) include that we contacted the SSFL for the advice that we took?”

Wired868 asked Seepersad whether he gave Scarborough permission to use Elliot against San Juan North, and if he felt any responsibility for their subsequent demotion.

He did not reply up to the time of publication.

Likewise, Gonzales did not offer any comment on the claim from James and Blackman-Walsh that a senior member of his executive committee misled newly-promoted Scarborough to devastating effect.

Thom said Gonzales cannot distance his organisation from Seepersad’s alleged advice.

“You cannot give advice and, when the school takes the advice, you say they are wrong,” said Thom. “The SSFL has to take some responsibility. The person in charge of registration and player matters is the same one who gave the advice. You cannot separate Mr Seepersad’s position from the SSFL when it is convenient.

“[…] You cannot penalise the school for Mr Seepersad’s error.”

For Thom, there is “only one fair solution” to the current debacle.

“If Mr Elliot was an illegal player, then we are in the wrong,” he said, “but the league gave us that advice [to play him]—you cannot get away from that.

“It is not a man on the street who gave Scarborough Sec the wrong information, it was the person in charge of registration and player matters for the SSFL. So how are we going to make these two schools happy?

“[…] The league (Premier Division) must play with 17 teams next year! San Juan should be in the ‘Prem’ and Scarborough Sec should be in the Prem; and you relegate four teams at the end of the season, to get back to 16.”

There is precedent, ironically involving San Juan North too.

On 17 May 2017, San Juan North, with the support of the general membership, won reinstatement to the Premier Division after Presentation College (San Fernando) were deducted points for their use of illegitimate student-athlete Kori Cupid, which rearranged the SSFL standings and led to the East school’s demotion at the end of the 2016 season.

The SSFL executive, then led by William Wallace, had already drawn up the fixtures for the 2017 season when the general membership voted to insert San Juan North as a 17^th team.

At the end of the 2017 competition, Fyzabad Secondary, Shiva Boys Hindu College, Signal Hill and Speyside were all demoted. (Incidentally, Fyzabad were suspended for fraud that year, while Shiva Boys lost points for using ineligible players.)

Thom wants Scarborough to enjoy the same outcome as San Juan North did, nine years ago.

And Seepersad, Scarborough officials insist, must go.

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