SSFL 25: St Benedict’s launch seismic query into Naparima duo; league asked to investigate leaders

Leaders Naparima College will be fighting for their first Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division title since the pandemic when they face second placed Signal Hill Secondary from 3.30pm today at Lewis Street, San Fernando.

However, “Naps” can end up in a boardroom battle for their Premier Division survival—regardless of this afternoon’s result—due to a potentially explosive letter of inquiry by St Benedict’s College acting principal Gregory Quan Kep, which points to the registration of winger Jaydon Caprietta and midfielder Jacob O’Reilly.

Yesterday, on the eve of the decisive match day of the 2025 Premier Division season, Quan Kep wrote to the SSFL Credentials Committee to “inquire about the eligibility of players of Naparima College who plays (sic) in the SSFL Premier Division […] Jayden (sic) Caprietta and Jacob O’Reilly”.

Quan Kep’s query alleges that Caprietta was improperly registered for Naparima’s opening game at best—which the southern outfit won 7-0 against Trinity College East, with the National Under-17 player on the score summary—or, at worst, not properly registered at all for the 2025 season.

Caprietta, allegedly, was registered for a player pass via a SSFL 001 form. But St Benedict’s claimed he was not listed on a SSFL 002 form, as required to be eligible for selection.

Should Caprietta be deemed an illegal player, Naparima would be in danger of forfeiting every game played this season. And instead of lifting the 2025 Premier Division title, they could be relegated.

Naparima manager Percy Samlalsingh declined the opportunity to comment on St Benedict’s inquiry. However, Wired868 understands the school denies the charge and insists their registration for the player is in order.

The St Benedict’s acting principal also claimed that Naparima misstated O’Reilly’s SEA date on his registration form and used an incomplete transfer repeat form to register him.

Quan Kep pointed too to Ministry of Education Circular Memorandum No 14 of 2025, which states that “applications [to repeat] from students with gap years will not be considered”.

“Mr Jacob O’Reilly would have had a gap year from 2024-25,” stated the St Benedict’s missive, “where he spent it at CF Intercity International Academy [in Alicante, Spain] which would have been the year he would be in form five.”

So, St Benedict’s complaint appears multi-dimensional.

Outside of Naparima’s apparent use of an incorrect SEA date, which might be attributed to human error and is not uncommon in school filings, Quan Kep is saying that O’Reilly should be repeating fifth form now and is required to have sat CSEC exams.

His failure to write examinations and apparent absence for fifth form, in Quan Kep’s estimation, should be deemed as a “gap year”, which raises questions about his eligibility.

Ironically, St Benedict’s College were punished for their own re-admission of student, Derrel “Zoom Zoom” Garcia, last year after the gifted attacker also missed a year of school while at the Intercity Academy in Spain.

At the time, Quan Kep was rebuffed by Ministry of Education officials for his failure to formally inform his superiors of Garcia’s absence.

However, the SSFL only punished Benedict’s for using Garcia while he was deemed to be an inactive student, as the MoE was lenient to the apparent logistical violations in the player’s readmission.

If the Ministry of Education approved Naparima’s request to repeat O’Reilly, sanction against the school for the apparent inconsistency with Circular Memorandum No 14 is unlikely.

Wired868 understands that an inquiry, by another school, into St Anthony’s College forward Jean-Marc Thomas—who was allowed to repeat upper six despite the fact that he turns 21 in early 2026—did not get off the ground since it was approved by the relevant school supervisor.

In essence, any rule violation identified in O’Reilly’s repeat could be deemed an error of the MoE rather than the school or the SSFL Credentials Committee.

A second St Benedict’s inquiry about the eligibility of a Naparima player—this time, former St Benedict’s student Mikhael Bullock—was also emailed to the media this morning. This time, Quan Kep’s letter was dated 5 November 2025.

In this inquiry, Quan Kep again notes Circular Memorandum No 14, which states in part that:

Applicants re-sitting subjects must have completed all School Based Assessment (SBA) requirements with a passing mark to qualify to repeat… Any deviation from the above (except age requirement) will require the approval of the permanent secretary.

“This student (who in 2025 completed his CSEC examinations at St Benedict’s College) does not meet his criterion,” stated Quan Kep, “as he did not pass his biology SBA.”

The date of St Benedict’s inquiry into Bullock suggests that the matter ought to have already been addressed by the SSFL Credentials Committee and/or Disciplinary Committee.

However, the schools body’s refusal to share decisions with anyone but the teams directly involved, leaves room for doubt on whether a ruling was made.

As a result, it is uncertain whether St Benedict’s inquiry into Bullock is being shared now because: a SSFL ruling is outstanding, the school is unhappy with the outcome, or they are simply looking to ramp up psychological pressure on Naparima before a match day of massive significance.

As in O’Reilly’s case, any issue with Bullock’s transfer could feasibly be considered the fault of the relevant school supervisor, rather than Naparima or the SSFL.

Caprietta’s case is potentially more problematic.

Wired868 understands that Naparima football officials are quietly confident that Caprietta’s paperwork is in order.

“These are all false accusations against Naparima,” stated one source from the San Fernando-based school, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Those schools want to judge us by their standards.”

Regardless, St Benedict’s inquiries cast an unwelcome shadow over what promised to be a fascinating evening of football today.

At present, Naparima or Signal Hill will win the league with a victory in San Fernando. Should they draw, however, St Benedict’s could pinch the crown with a triumph over Trinity College East in Trincity.

If any of St Benedict’s concerns are valid and Naparima are sanctioned, then it changes the picture considerably.

If Naparima are deducted points for only their opening win over the “Blue Hawks”, Signal Hill still sew up the title with a victory today—however, a Naps draw or win would, ironically, help St Benedict’s win the title, providing that the “La Romaine Lions” defeat Trinity East.

If the SSFL Credentials Committee discovers that Caprietta was not properly registered for the entire season, Naparima would be in danger of relegation from the Premier Division and being tossed out of the Intercol competition.

In the latter scenario, Presentation College (San Fernando) would be crowned South Intercol champions without having to play the final.

And East Intercol winners St Augustine Secondary, who defeated San Juan North Secondary 2-1 in yesterday’s final at the Larry Gomes Stadium would be saved from relegation—as Naparima would join Carapichaima East Secondary in the exit lounge, along with one team from San Juan North and Scarborough Secondary.

Remarkably, St Benedict’s point tally will rise to 36 points, as their loss to Naparima would be overturned.

And, should they defeat struggling Trinity College East today, St Benedict’s would become the 2025 Premier Division champions—even if Signal Hill win on Lewis Street today.

St Benedict’s fans feel they were cheated of the 2024 Premier Division crown in the SSFL’s boardrooms. They can potentially win the 2025 title that way.

Premier Division fixtures

(Thu 27 Nov)

Naparima College v Signal Hill Secondary, 3.30pm, Lewis Street;

Malick Secondary v Fatima College, 3.30pm, TBA;

Trinity East v St Benedict’s College, 3.30pm, Trincity;

Trinity College v Presentation (San F’do), 3.30pm, Moka.

(To be determined)

Scarborough Secondary v San Juan North, 3.30pm, Shaw Park.

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