THE YEAR THAT WAS 2022
2022 – THE REVIEW
2022 proved to be a slow burner; the year in which the concept of patience was attached to expectations surrounding Trinidad and Tobago Football.
A mixed year on the field but one in which significant progress was made off of it. The calendar of activities started in victorious fashion with our Senior Women’s Team commencing its Concacaf W qualifiers,- the quest to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Nicaragua at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. It was the first international match hosted on local soil that permitted the entry of fans since the Pandemic resulted in severe restrictions in early 2020. It was a bright start to Kenwyne Jones’ team.
The T&T Women’s team would go on to remain unbeaten in its preliminary matches, defeating Turks and Caicos, Dominica and securing its spot in the final phase, the Concacaf W Championship, with a last-gasp equalizer in a 2-2 draw before a partisan crowd at the Dwight Yorke Stadium. The sister-isle was thrilled to have international football return to its beautiful Bacolet venue, but things didn’t go according to plan in Monterrey in the month of July, with T&T losing all three group matches to much tougher opponents Canada, Costa Rica and Panama.
On the U-17 Women’s side, T&T finished bottom of the table at the Concacaf U-17 Championship in Santo Domingo, losing to Mexico, Panama and Nicaragua. As for the U-20 Women, they participated in the Concacaf Championship which was also played in Santo Domingo in February, losing its three matches to Canada, Nicaragua and St Kitts/Nevis.
COACH EDUCATION ENTERS NEW HEIGHTS
With the activities among national teams rapidly increasing as the year progressed, the TTFA also invested in several development programmes with its Coach Education campaign shifting to second gear.
Getting an education in football has never been so easy in T&T. The TTFA, through its Technical Department and Coach Education programme, staged the first ever A-Licence coaching course in the Caribbean at the UTT, Napa in Port of Spain and the TTFA Technical Center in Couva. The course consistent with similar content, contact hours and learning outcomes of other A-License courses in the CONCACAF and UEFA regions was presented by FIFA expert Anton Corneal and Tony McCallum, who has worked as a Senior Coach Development Manager for the English FA.
Also among the course facilitators were FIFA’s Head of Coaching and Player Development Branimir Ujevic and former England U-17 team head coach and English FA John Peacock. Apart from Trinidad and Tobago, there were participants from other Caribbean nations such as St Lucia, Jamaica, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and the British Virgin Islands.
Aside from also staging TTFA C and B Licence courses in its increased efforts to certify more local coaches in 2022, the TTFA also launched its Academy Registration and Safeguarding campaigns aimed at educating and improving the structure of youth and grassroots development. The focus on Safeguarding has been seen as everyone’s responsibility and as such the TTFA has been fully committed to the principle that all children have a right to participate in football in an environment free from harm or abuse. The FA has been actively engaging and educating players, parents, coaches, referees, team officials, volunteers and members of the public on the topic.
The addition of Rajesh Latchoo as Head of Coach Education and Youth Football Director, Paul Decle as High Performance Programme Coordinator and the return of Corneal as Technical Director has meant that the FA’s Technical Department has been able to take their programming to the farthest reaches of the twin-island and has greatly assisted in rolling out educational programmes and popular grassroots practices that will auger well for the game’s development. Their work, along with the rest of the Technical Department and staff has ensured Coach Education is one of the most active and engaged departments at the TTFA.
Another great example of the culmination of the Technical Department’s work was the hosting of a TTFA C License Coaching Course specifically for Women aspart of the FIFA Coach Education Scholarship programme. This course was launched in February at the Home of Football andthe course participants included several current and past national women players.
In March, Technical Director Anton Corneal met with the heads of the various local Regional Associations to discuss the way forward for local youth football. The items discussed included Youth Football restarting in each Zone and theScreening and Identification of players for the Boys and Girls U-13 and U-15 High Performance Programme.
“This is a 4-yr program designed to assist 40 plus players both boys and girls in preparation for our U-17 National Youth teams. The format is designed to continuously work with players at an advanced level allowing a pathway for late developers,” Corneal stated.
The High Performance Programme continued on a consistent basis throughout the year with Paul Decle appointed as Programme Coordinator ably assisted by other local accredited coaches including former 2006 World Cup player Densill Theobald.
In 2022 the High Performance Programme undertook an effort to understand what young players want and need out of the game so that they are able to properly begin their development as well as learn a love for football with a better understanding of the basics. The results have been encouraging and will serve as a blueprint in the programme for years to come.
TTFA stages FIFA Girls Play Programme
In the months of October and December, the TTFA hosted the FIFA Girls Play Programme at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain and Dwight Yorke Stadium, Tobago. The Women’s Football Development Programme, aimed at girls between the ages of 6-12 years, was funded by the Women’s Football Campaign (WFC), one of FIFA’s Women’s Football Development Programmes. The WFC is a tailor-made resource to promote the game, creating awareness and empowering the girls through football in a friendly and safe environment.
“The purpose of this initiative is to grow and ignite interest in girls’ football and get girls interested in playing at a younger age,” said Jinelle James, Director of Women’s Football, TTFA.
“The reason the programme is based and caters for girls between the ages of 6 to 12 years old, so we want to get the younger girls playing, and getting them involved, getting them active,” she added.
SENIOR MEN’S TEAM GO AFTER GOLD CUP QUALIFICATION
The Senior Men’s Team entertained fans at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for the first time since 2019, as the TTFA partnered with Courts for the Courts Caribbean Classic involving the national senior teams of Guyana, Barbados and the hosts in March. Three exhilarating days of football saw a thrilling end to the final match as Levi Garcia scored a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Guyana to secure the title for the host nation. The matches received widespread coverage throughout the region with live television broadcasts in Guyana and Barbados.
The Courts Classic kick started a consistent string of activities for the Angus Eve-coached T&T Men’s Team. T&T began its Concacaf Nations League campaign away to Nicaragua, losing 2-1 without the presence of Eve who was unable to travel due to personal matters. However T&T bounced back in fine style with 2-0 and 4-1 wins over St Vincent and the Grenadines in Kingstown and Port of Spain in June. T&T also defeated Bahamas 1-0 in its second outing. The stage is set for a gripping finale in March 2023 with T&T needing to win away to Bahamas and at home to current league leaders Nicaragua to secure its passage to Concacaf Nations League A and the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
The T&T senior team also got much-needed experience in South American conditions, playing a friendly with Bolivia in Sucre in January which they lost 5-0. Additionally, T&T made use of the September FIFA Window, accepting an invitation to compete in the King’s Cup 2022 in Thailand. The series saw the return of midfielder Kevin Molino from injury as T&T gave an impressive, promising display despite losing 2-1 on both occasions to Tajikistan and Thailand.
Under 20 Men bow out of World Cup Qualifiers
The National U-20 Men’s team showed signs of hope and promise with a gritty display at the Concacaf U-20 Men’s Championship in Honduras. The team underwent a residential training camp in Costa Rica inclusive of two-warm matches against the hosts, drawing one and losing the second. At the Championship, T&T began brightly but had to settle for a 4-4 draw with Haiti, before losing 5-0 to Mexico. T&T got the desired 3-0 win over Suriname in its final group stage fixture to advance to the knockout phase where they lost 4-1 to Costa Rica.
BEACH SOCCER AND FUTSAL BRING HOME SILVERWARE
These two versions of the sport brought much accolades for Trinidad and Tobago in 2022. At the 2022 Caribbean Games played in Guadeloupe in July, T&T’s Futsal Men’s Team, coached by Paul Decle, secured the Bronze Medal with an 8-2 victory over Martinique in the third place playoff at the Palais Des Sports Du Gosier. Che Benny, led the way with five goals and was later named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
On the Beach Soccer front, T&T’s Women’s team captured the Winners Cup at the inaugural Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup in Nassau in October. T&T’s Women defeated hosts Bahamas 11-6 in the closing fixture and the Men’s team bounced back from consecutive losses to Bahamas and Colombia to pull off a come from behind 4-3 win over Costa Rica.
For the women, tournament MVP and topscorer Alexcia Ali led the way with four goals while Summer Arjoon, Aliyah Prince and Shaunalee Govia scored a pair each and Adanya Phillip netted one. T&T fell behind 1-0 after just 29 seconds of play but settled well to take charge of the match. T&T’s Tenesha Palmer was named Goalkeeper of the tournament. Both teams were coached by Chad Appoo.
REFEREES ADVANCE IN 2022
The 2022 Calender proved to be a progressive one for the local refereeing fraternity. Top of the class was FIFA Assistant Referee Caleb Wales who received his appointment in May for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Wales officiated in the Iran versus Wales group stage encounter, making him the first official from T&T to appear on the big stage since 2002.
In February, it was also announced that T&T’s Referees on FIFA panel for the year would be Crystal Sobers and Cecile Hinds, Assistant Referees being Caleb Wales, Ainsley Rochard and Carissa Jacob.
The MA Instructors introduced were Neal Brizan, Lynda Bramble Thompson and Mentor Baptiste. The National Instructors appointed were Merere Gonzales, Allison Boney McDonald, Jason O’Connor, Cindy Mohammed, Merville Wallace, Oswald Myers and Shane De Silva.
In July, The TTFA and its Referees Department hosted the FIFA Referees Assistance Program at its Technical Center in Couva.The FIFA Instructors assigned by FIFA to conduct the course, which was attended by thirty local referees inclusive of 2022 FIFA World Cup appointed Assistant Caleb Wales, were Technical Instructor Peter Prendergast of Jamaica, , Fitness instructor Alan Brown of Costa Rica and Javier Santos – FIFA Refereeing Development Officer for the English-speaking Caribbean Countries.
During December, it was disclosed by FIFA that Wales was among a list of six T&T football officials who have been approved by the Pierluigi Collina-led FIFA Referees Committee, the body which appoints the referees and assistant referees for matches in competitions organized by FIFA, for the 2023 international lists.
Based on the recommendations by the T&T Football Association’s Referees Department, the trio of Crystal Sobers, Cecile Hinds, and Kwinsi Williams were accepted as referees while the trio of Wales, Ainsley Rochard, and Evelyn Carissa Douglas-Jacob were accepted as assistant referees.
Football on the Pitch
The TTFA was pleased to see the completion of a successful Secondary Schools Football League which saw hundreds of youth players and officials being able to engage in competitive football over a four-month span, along with regional media coverage and impressive fan engagements.
TT Women’s League Football (TT WoLF) also hosted its first season since the pandemic with Police FC defeating La Horquetta Rangers 1-0 in a thrilling final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The FA also endorsed and sanctioned other local competitions to ensure that there was a restart of football on the pitches in different parts of the country.
ESports Participation
In May, this country’s National eSports Team launched its road to the FIFA eNations Cup 2022 via the Qualifiers Main Stage in style with wins over Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic and a draw with Costa Rica in Group B action. T&T led Dominican Republic 1-0 at half time before going on to secure a 3-1 win before disposing Puerto Rico 3-0 in the second encounter. The TTFA hosted the Trinidad and Tobago FIFAe Nations Invitational which was a pilot scouting initiative to gauge the interest and skill level in FIFA esports domestically. The TTFA signed onto this initiative in order to create a competitive and self-sustaining domestic and international esports ecosystem that is capable of competing against other countries in friendly and non-friendly environments.
T&T’s participation and development in this new arena continued in December in the FIFA eNations Series with wins against the Dominican Republic and defeats to Panama and Honduras.
While there have been challenges and the results may not have always been in our favour,it’s important to acknowledge and understand the pathway required to attain success and position the organization and local football in a better, sustainble place. One of the great things about the sporting business is that there’s always room for improvement. The world of football is continuously evolving and T&T’s football must be part of this evolution. We remain committed towards that!
