T&T defender Nicholas Walker inked a one-year deal with American Major League Soccer club FC Dallas this weekend.
The former Fairleigh Dickinson player was selected as the fifth pick of the third round (43rd overall) in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft in January 21.
He then went to impress during Dallas' preseason trip to the United Arab Emirates.
Walker is excited about signing his first professional contract.
"I'm really excited to sign with FC Dallas and to be a part of the new era of coach Oscar Pareja," Walker said. "The guys here are fantastic, and I already feel very much at home. I'm grateful for the door that (FDU head coach) Seth (Roland) opened for me four years ago to come to Fairleigh Dickinson. It was a great environment for me to develop as a soccer player, a student and a person. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life."
Dallas head coach Pareja said, "I like his attitude; I like the whole package. And for me, it's encouraging to see that there are a lot of tools there that can be molded and we can use in the team and probably has a very good project for the future. So, I'm excited to work with someone like Nicholas."
Peltier scores number 4 for Slovak leaders
Lester Peltier scored a superb second half goal to help Slovan Bratislava to a 2-0 victory over Spartak Trnava on the weekend to keep them atop the Slovak Premier League.
Peltier outran three defenders to latch onto a through pass and slot past the advancing goalkeeper to put his side 2-0 ahead on 58 minutes in their derby clash. The goal was Peltier's fourth of the season. Slovan are on 51 points, six ahead of the player's former club AS Trencin with eight games left in the league.
"It was a tremendous feeling to get a goal in the derby and it turned out to be a great result for the club and the fans," said Peltier, who's goal sparked a an uproar among the Slovan fans.
"The fans were celebrating the win late into the evening because it was a derby and they realise we are nearing the League title. I think once we can keep our form and not get carried away then we can definitely stay ahead of Trencin," Peltier said.
Meantime, another T&T European-based player, defender Radanfah Abu Bakr has left Kazakhstan club FC Vostok and has joined Lithuanian club, FK Kruoja Pakruojis. Abu Bakr has been a valuable member of the T&T defensive line up over the past few months and will be eager to make a good impression in his early appearances for FK Kruoja.
Latchoo: Seniorplayers can serve as role models
T&T Under-15 women's team head coach Rajesh Latchoo sees the importance of the members of this country's senior women's team serving as role models to their younger peers.
Latchoo has been handed the responsibility of preparing the national youth girl's team for the Concacaf U-15 Championship in the Cayman Islands in August. He is also the assistant coach for the senior women's team which is currently in Charleston for a four-game training camp.
"There has to be a link between both teams and what I'm trying to do is to encourage and show the older girls the importance of them putting on the right display and attitude and being role models to the younger girls," Latchoo said.
"They have a role to play. We have some very experienced players in the senior team who have done well in the past and they must see the holistic side of this whole effort. And on the flip side, the younger players must see the values of working hard and trying to achieve something in the game by having the right approach," said the Princes Town-born coach, who is also one the TTFA's coach education instructors.
"Both sets of players are committed but they obviously want more exposure. They have set their sights in big things in the women's game and we've got to try our best to give the best possible chance to achieve their goals."
Latapy's Cup final blues
Russell Latapy's club Inverness Caledonian Thistle were scheduled to take on Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final, last night.
Now assistant coach at Inverness with former Hibernian teammate John Hughes as head coach, the topic of Latapy being dropped from the Hibs team for a Cup final following a night out with Dwight Yorke was bound to come up.
The Scottish Press did not forget the incident. Latapy is, however, now been forgiven and is being lauded for his exploits later on with Falkirk and now his coaching duties in the Scottish Premier League.
He did have advice for his players ahead of the match, saying: "The best advice I can give the players is: Obviously you know yourselves better than anyone. Whatever you need to do to get yourself in the best possible shape to win the cup final, get it done. If that entails going out and having fun, don't get caught."
He added that all the talks about his cigarette habits never prevented him from playing at a high level and getting the job done.
"Once you have a reputation it is very difficult to lose it," he said. "But the truth is I played professional football until I was 40. So there is no chance I could have been all that bad.
"If I had done all that stuff I would never have played till I was 40. It's about choosing what you want to do at the right time."
Shaun Fuentes is the director of communications for the TTFA. shaunfuentes@yahoo.com