MANY youths around the world dream of playing football professionally.
Whether it is the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain or Serie A in Italy, a professional career in football is the goal.
After two years lost owing to the covid19 pandemic, local footballers breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) would kick off on March 10. The league, which replaced the Pro League, is the top tier of football in TT, with the expectation that it would help produce the next crop of national footballers.
The Government has pledged its financial support to the league and FIFA has also invested in it.
The Ministry of Sport and Community Development has committed $3 million per year to the league for the first three years.
FIFA is assisting to the tune of US$300,000 and $400,000 per year.
Matches are being broadcast live on Sportsmax and streamed live on the FIFA+ app.
However, several coaches and players have lamented that the money is not enough to run an entire league with each squad, including staff, comprising approximately 30 members.
Some teams have been struggling to run their programmes since the league kicked off. The allocation allows for $50,000 to be spread across each team per month, which includes paying up to approximately 25 players and five technical staff members.
One coach in the TTPFL said he can only afford to pay some of his players a stipend between $1,200 and $1,500 per month. Additionally, he said players are paid a small match fee of $250 for starters.
Grateful to return to action
A player, who wished to stay anonymous, said footballers are grateful to be back on the field again.
The midfielder (player X) said, “For some people, football is all we have. For it starting, it is a plus. It is motivation again to the dream. It have some youths who want to go further like myself. It is a good thing that we have football back again in Trinidad again. For a country who had high standards in football, we not supposed to be where we at right now. Having the league back again is a plus.”
TT are currently ranked 104th in the world in the FIFA men's rankings.
[caption id="attachment_1017129" align="alignnone" width="710"] Kadeem Hutchinson of Police FC controls the ball from an agresssive Joshua Alexander of Caledonia FC, during their premier league match at the Arima Velodrome on April 19. -[/caption]
Another player (Y) said, “It is a very good feeling to be outside…playing week in and week out because we went nearly two years without football.”
Player Y, 20, recently left school and is solely counting on football to survive.
He has dreams of making it to the pinnacle of the sport.
“I want to make it a career, reach as far as possible…I really enjoy the sport. I see it as a lifestyle more than anything else. The quality of the league not bad, the football playing good. At the end of the day, if you are a footballer in the country your goal should really be to go outside and play…play in bigger leagues.”
