T&T U-17s to play friendlies vs Jamaica
T&T U-17s to play friendlies vs Jamaica
This country’s Men’s U-17 National Team will travel to Jamaica from May 1-8, 2024 for a residential training camp inclusive of three friendly matches versus Jamaica’s Men’s U-17 National Team and a Club Team.
The current T&T U-17 selection features several players who have graduated from the TTFA High Performance Programme and competed at the Concacaf Boys U-15 Championship in the Dominican Republic in August 2023, recording memorable wins against Costa Rica and Qatar.
The team, which has been under the guidance of Shawn Cooper since 2023 was initially undergoing preparations for the Concacaf Men’s U-17 Qualifiers, first slated to be held in August 2024. However On April 18 ,2024 Concacaf issued a circular advising that the Qualifying matches for the FIFA Under 17 Men’s World Cup was now moved from 2024 to 2025.
This therefore meant that there would be additional time for preparations for the Concacaf U-17 Championship. The TTFA also felt it would be best to provide oportunities for the national team to face international opposition and further dates for camps and talent identification are continuing to be identified for the rest of 2024 ahead of the qualifiers in 2025.
While in Jamaica, the Men’s U-17 team will play Jamaica on Friday May 3 and Sunday May 5 before concluding their trip with a friendly versus a Club team on Tuesday May 7.
This initiative is in line with the TTFA’s application to the FIFA Talent Development Scheme which aims to provide additional resources to Member Associations for the elite youth national teams.
TTFA President Kieron Edwards insisted that there will be continuous efforts to provide opoortunities for exposure and match preparation for the various national teams.
“In keeping with the Executive’s mantra to strengthen partnerships and our relationship with our brothers in CFU, we are pleased to be embarking on this journey to Jamaica,” said Edwards.
“Despite the challenges, the commitment to the continued development of our high-performance program shines through. This trip marks a pivotal step towards our U-17 team’s quest to qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2025. It’s a testament to the dedication of all involved, securing this opportunity mere days after the new executive’s installation.”
Cooper comments on U-17 Selection
Men’s Under 17 head coach Shawn Cooper finalized his squad for the upcoming trip to Jamaica, maintaining players from the current High Performance program but with thirteen new faces selected who were not oart of the previous T&T U-15 squad.
“In our attempt to expand the pool of U-17 mens players with international experience we have decided to select 13 new players to a 21 man squad traveling to Jamaica,” Cooper told TTFA Media.
: Out of the eight players returning to the squad which represented T&T in the U-15 Concacaf tournament last year, only three of them were starters. So at the end of this tour to Jamaica at least 33 players would have gotten international experience of some sort which would put us in a better place in terms of selection of players and the boys continued development on and off the field,” Cooper added.
U-17 SQUAD
Antuan Louison, Seth Hadeed, Jonathan Mason – Fatima College
Alejandro Harper, Eran Mc Leod – St Mary’s College
Nikosi Foncette, Kyron Baptiste,Josiah Simmons, Jimally Renne – Presentation College, San Fernando
Jasai Theophilus, Jayden Christophe – Queen’s Royal College
Dimitre Jones, Keston Richards – Arima North Secondary
Jaydon Caprietta, Jeremiah Daniel, Adasa Richardson, Antonio Hills, Mikhail Clement – Naparima College
Salim Soanes – St Benedict’s College
Necose Moore – Chaguanas North Secondary
Riquelme Phillips – Speyside High School
Staff
Shawn Cooper- HC
Devin Elcock- Assistant Coach
Gilbert Bateau- Assistant Coach
Declan Squires- Goalkeeper Coach
Michael Taylor – Physio
John Jerry – Equipment Manager
Nigel Roberts – Manager
