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Naparima College winger Jaydon Caprietta was not properly registered to represent his school for the 2025 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season, Wired868 understands.
However, Naparima administrators uploaded Caprietta’s paperwork within the SSFL database on 10 September, with all the necessary information.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
How can both things be true?
That is, Wired868 was informed by multiple sources, because Naparima registered Caprietta as a Northgate Secondary player.
Northgate is based in St Augustine and competed in the East Zone Under-16 competition alone this season. More to the point, Northgate is located right after Naparima on the SSFL’s online dropdown menu from which administrators upload documents for players and staff.
The fact that Caprietta’s documentation—all speaking to his credentials as a Naparima player—were uploaded under Northgate, is likely to be seen then as a case of human error rather than cheating.
Not for the first time, the SSFL Credentials Committee, whose duties were overseen by assistant secretary operations Laurence Seepersad due to general secretary Azaad Khan’s poor health, could find itself just as complicit as the school in the hot spot.
When Naparima uploaded Caprietta’s 002 form under the wrong school, the SSFL administrative staff should have spotted the error and ordered the southern giants to reapply for the player.
Had that been done, Caprietta, a National Under-17 player earlier this year, would have missed only their outing with Trinity College East, which Naparima won 7-0 with a goal from the winger.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Instead, the SSFL presented Naparima with a player pass for Caprietta and he proceeded to represent the school for the entire season.
On the eve of Naparima’s final game of the 2025 Premier Division season, St Benedict’s College principal Gregory Quan Kep wrote a letter of inquiry to the Credential Committee, which stated:
“[…] Mr Jayden (sic) Caprietta’s name was not included on the SSFL 002 submitted by Naparima College via the TTSSFL online site on the 10th September 2025 and would have played vs Trinity East College (sic) on the 13th of September.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
“A search should be made to ensure that Mr Jayden (sic) Caprietta registration was submitted during the course of the season.”
Technically, Quan Kep was right. Naparima did not submit a 002 form for Caprietta to play for their school.
But Naparima believe they also have a strong case that they did register Caprietta with all the necessary paperwork—only that some of the documentation was uploaded under a different school.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Naparima finished the season in first place with 37 points and are awaiting their first league crown since the Covid-19 pandemic. St Benedict’s ended in second place with 36 points.
If Quan Kep’s inquiry finds favour with league officials, Naparima would not only be denied the title—but they would also be relegated.
Such a decision would hand St Benedict’s the crown, just a year after they were denied the title due to their use of Derrel “Zoom Zoom” Garcia while he was an inactive student.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868.
A demotion for Naparima would also save the Premier Division status of St Augustine Secondary, who are due to be relegated as it stands—along with Carapichaima East Secondary and either Scarborough Secondary or San Juan North Secondary.
Were Naparima to be punished for Caprietta’s first outing against Trinity East, the resulting three-point deduction would see St Benedict’s crowned as the 2025 champion school.
Naparima officials, who spoke with Wired868 on condition of anonymity, are confident that they would not be penalised though.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Last season, several schools inadvertently uploaded player documentation under Arima North Secondary, which is the first school in the site’s dropdown menu.
Naparima expects that the league is obliged to also allow them such latitude. It is also unlikely to escape the relevant bodies for appeal that the SSFL ought to have alerted the school of the error and allowed them to fix it, rather than accredit Caprietta.
St Benedict’s had two other bones of contention with Naparima’s registration this year.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
Quan Kep noted that their fellow southern school accepted midfielder Mikhael Bullock as a fifth-form repeater, although he failed his Biology SBA. (Bullock is a former St Benedict’s student.)
And St Benedict’s also suggested that Naparima midfielder Jacob O’Reilly should not have been allowed to repeat form five under Ministry of Education regulations, since he had a gap year, which he spent in Spain with the CF Intercity International Academy, which also housed Benedict’s student-athletes like Garcia and Adam “Toka” Pierre.
Quan Kep noted that Naparima registered O’Reilly’s SEA date as 2021 when it was actually 2020.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
In both cases, though, Bullock and O’Reilly’s school status was approved by the Ministry of Education, while there was no material advantage to be gained this season by wilfully stating O’Reilly’s SEA date as 2021.
O’Reilly’s true SEA date means he cannot play in the SSFL in 2026, though, unless as a sixth-form student. Certainly, the difference between an SEA date of 2020 and 2021 would be vital next year.
Thus far, neither SSFL president Merere Gonzales nor Seepersad have responded to questions from Wired868 about St Benedict’s inquiries.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868,
Naparima, who downed Presentation College (San Fernando) 4-0 in the South Intercol final yesterday, face either St Augustine Secondary or Carapichaima East Secondary in the National Intercol semifinal on Friday.
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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.
What is the Secondary Schools Football League without a controversy? Remember this is not purely about football but about teaching young student athletes about integrity, fair play and equality. I have paid close attention to the Secondary Schools League over the years. It is painfully evident that there are issues in the administration of the league. The administrators appear not to be consistent with the handling of matters and with their due diligence. It appears that some schools are dealt swift justice even in the face of what appear to be legitimate reasons. They also appear not to do due diligence in what appears to be a complicated online registration process, as that can be the only explanation for what appears to be repeated errors as reported in the registration of players.
If what is in the public domain about the Naparima players that St Benedict’s have queried, it would also appear that the Ministry of Education is complicit in facilitating the transfer of students contrary to their own rules. One then has to ask how is it possible that students are successful in obtaining transfers, while others are not facilitated even in instances outside of student athlete transfers. A recently well publicised case of a mother who claims her child was being bullied at the previous school and applied for a transfer and is still awaiting approval, while the child is out of school for the last two years as the mother refuses to send the child back to the previous school.
Let us revisit some major issues in the SSFL from the 2024 and 2025 season
Everyone would remember the Derrel Garcia issue in 2024. In this matter, reportedly there were different positions taken by the education district office and the chief education officer as reported. This resulted in the executive of the SSFL seeking leagal advice on the matter and lengthy delay in a final determination of the issue. By the time the judgement was delivered and the adjustments were made to the league standings, the entire intercol competition in the south zone was completed and the seeding for the competition were not in accordance with was ought to have been the correct seedings for the competition. In this instance St Benedict’s were punished because it was stated that the process for the reintegration of Derrel Garcia was not completed in accordance with the Ministry’s guidelines.
St Augustine Secondary suffered points deduction for two incidents in 2024, one for the use of an ineligible player who transferred from Bon Air Secondary to St Augustine Secondary. It was stated that he participated in games for St Augustine while still being a student of Bon Air Secondary. What role if any does the match commissioner play in confirming a player identity and the validity of their registration? Are platers not issued with player registration card that ought to be presented to the match commissioner along with the player before the start of each game? The second issue for which they were punished in 2024, was for playing a player who ought to have been suspended due to the accumulation of cautions.
In the big 5 competition for promotion, Hillview College completed their schedule of game with Scarborough Secondary and Pleasantville Secondary still having two games to play and Trinity College Moka and Carapichaima East Secondary have a game each to play. This ought not to happen if fairness is not only done but also appear to be done.
In 2025 the issues continued. They were mainly in games involving travel to and from the sister isle. While I hold no brief for any school, it is ironic that again it appears that St Augustine have been handed the wrong end of the stick and have been handed a forfeiture in their game against Signal Hill. I understand the league’s position having lost sponsorship, that decision of the disciplinary committee to award three points to Signal Hill appears on the face of it to be unjust given the numerous postponements ad rescheduled games. A breakdown of games postponed due to flight difficulties as opposed to financial issues should be made public. The SSFL should at minimum state what was the factors that led to such a decision especially as to the best of my knowledge their inability to travel to Tobago to honour the engagement was financial. This according to the information available was stated on both occasions that the game was scheduled. There have been multiple postponements involving other schools. The question then is why is St Augustine apparently being treated differently?
This year St Augustine were again penalised for the use of an ineligible player who allegedly transferred from Valencia Secondary to St Augustine. Once again, the question is does the match commissioner play any role in
ensuring the status of players by checking player identification and verifying identity with player registration cards? If they do, how is it possible for an ineligible player to have played without being properly transferred? Was this player in possession of a player identification card with St Augustine as his school?
The issues of the SSFL in 2025 are not limited to the Premier division but the Championship big 5 competition was also affected. As happened last year, one team had already completed their schedule with their last game being their opponents first game, while there were other schools with multiple outstanding games. Fortunately, while Hillview College were on the wrong end last year, they were champions this year. The point is no team should complete their schedule games with the other teams having more than one game to play. This should be as a result of there being five teams, the only team to complete their schedule should be the team on the bye in the fifth round.
The St Benedict’s query in 2025 about Naparima’s use of certain players again raises questions about the due diligence of the SSFL administration in respect of the registration process and the apparent flouting of their own rules by the Ministry of Education.
In the Caprietta’s case, the issue surrounds improper registration, to say it was human error is to admit that both the school and the league’s administrator responsible for player registration failed to verify the online submission resulting in improper registration. Who is responsible?
In the O’Reilly case, what is of importance is the Ministry rule regarding a gap year and does O’Reilly circumstances qualify as a gap year making him ineligible?
The Bullock case appears even more interesting in respect of the ministry’s rules. As a past student of St Benedict’s, the information regarding his SBA and subsequently eligibility for repeating form 5 comes glaringly into question. Is the Ministry complicit in aiding and abetting a school in flouting their own rules? if this is in fact the case, how does the SSFL treat will his eligibility taking the Garcia judgement of 2024 into consideration?
If these issues are not properly addressed with apparent consistency, the integrity of the SSFL will come into question and history will be very unkind to the current administrators.
They must do better.