Youth Football

Former Trinidad and Tobago international and Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop is prominent on the Wednesday 2 March agenda of the Newcastle City Council as the executive will vote on presenting Hislop with the keys to their city for his anti-racism work. Hislop, who turned 53 on Tuesday, joined Newcastle …

Sport is back—but only if you have taken the jab. Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe confirmed today, via email, that sport has been included in the Government’s Safe Zone policy. It means that, like cinemas, restaurants and bars, national governing bodies and ‘sport serving bodies’ can resume …

The following is a press statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA): The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association is hereby advising the public and stakeholders that it has no affiliation with the individual Mr Jerome Pierre nor has the organisation endorsed any programme or activity as is being …

Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales has suggested that vaccine hesitancy among Trinidad and Tobago’s student population could be a key factor in the Government’s decision to block schools football for the second successive season. Gonzales said the SSFL executive had been in communication with the ministries of …

Leave the egos at the door and instead bring bags and bags of patience. Fixing our football will require much more time than it took to drive it down to its current position. For too long, we have attempted to hold conversations in which each leader tried to look like …

So far I have only touched on youth development from a ball manipulation and decision-making viewpoint. However, playing in competitive games non-stop can also hinder the physical development and health of players.  Again, the local adage that ‘the more you play, the better you get’ is misleading on this count. …

Youth development in Trinidad, simply put, consists of tournaments and competitions. The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Youth Pro League (YPL), Republic Bank Youth League, Next Level U-19 Tournament and Commissioner’s Cup are the main players in this arena.  I will use the SSFL as the starting point of the …

A question on The Burdie and Barney podcast during our discussion with former England Premier League and 2006 World Cup goalkeeper Shaka Hislop lingered long after that episode was over:  Have we been developing players? Or were we just blessed with talented players previously and, now, not so much?  At …

Former 1998 Fifa World Cup assistant referee Merere Louis Gonzales, a retired teacher at Success RC and Mt Hope Secondary and a lay minister at the Maloney, D’Abadie and Mausica RC churches, is the new Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president, following a resounding win in the SSFL’s virtual annual …

“[…] Last Saturday, the malls were jam-packed with juveniles and police had to be called in to disperse the crowd. Beaches remain open and quite obviously will be crowded this weekend, just as they were reported to be last weekend, while there are sure to be new movies released in the cinema.  …

Trinidad and Tobago international swimmer Dylan Carter and cyclist Teniel Campbell, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee’s (TTOC) Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively, reminisced on the most tumultuous year of their sporting careers—after being toasted by the TTOC at its Annual Awards Gala on 29 December, which was …

Former St Anthony’s College and Queen’s Royal College (QRC) football coach Nigel Grosvenor was recognised posthumously for his contribution to sport yesterday, as the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) presented him with the Alexander B Chapman award. The award, named after the former TTOC president, is meant to serve …