Despite the trickling numbers of T&T professional footballers in the British Leagues compared to years gone by, ex-national head coach and captain Russell Latapy believes there is still a market out there for local players.
The 46-year-old assistant coach at Scottish Premiership club Inverness Caledonian Thistle said that he still manages to keep tabs on the progress of some of the young talent in this country when he gets the chance.
He spoke about the transition from player to coach having played at Falkirk before retiring from playing in 2008/2009.
"I think one of the funny things about football is that the knowledge you have gained once you are much older and your understanding of the game is much greater than when you played. When you played you have the legs and the stamina to run about and do things and things happen for you.
"But to make things actually happen and have an understanding how to pull teams about and how to create opportunities, you get that when you are much older. It is funny in that the more you understand the game is the less capacity you have physically to do it," Latapy said on Heritage Radio 101.7 on Thursday.
"It's been an interesting adjustment but just with the knowledge you have gained over the years and trying to pass it on to the younger players and they taking it on board, it's a great satisfaction."
Regarding there being a market for T&T players in Scotland and other parts of Europe, the former FC Porto and Hibernian player, believes while there may not be as much players in the leagues there as compared to just under a decade ago, there is room for them. There was a time when T&T had several players in those leagues as the likes of Marvin Andrews, Anthony Rougier, Clint Marcelle, Carlos Edwards, Stern John, Dwight Yorke, Lyndon Andrews, Ian Cox, Clayton Ince, Kelvin Jack, Brent Sancho, Shaka Hislop, Brent Rahim, Chris Bichall and Dennis Lawrence among others constantly played first team football in the European Leagues.
"There is definitely a market here. We have always had talented players in the Caribbean and that hasn't changed. I supposed it's just the right opportunities. Me being out here, I am hoping I can create some of these opportunities for some of the younger kids at home. I supposed it's just a matter of time before these doors can be opened. But yes, we have talent and there is a market for these players not only just in Scotland but other parts of Europe."
Wallace: Plans afootto properly preparenational teams
National football teams operations manager William Wallace says plans are moving ahead to ensure that budgets are covered and preparations are in place for each of the national teams scheduled to take part in international competition this year.
As challenging as it remains, Wallace said with the senior men's team heading the list of major activities, the men's Under-20 team and the women's senior team are also gearing towards the Pan American Games in Canada in July while the national youth men and women teams also have CONCACAF Championships to look forward to.
"Everything we do this year is geared towards our preparations for the Gold Cup in July and the World Cup qualifiers in November. The coach is actually trying to widen his pool of players and will be looking at more towards local-based players from the Pro League. The concentration now is on the local players for the upcoming Panama match with the inclusion of a few overseas-based players," Wallace said.
He mentioned that there have been two meetings with Sports Minister Brent Sancho and there is continued dialogue.
"The discussions been going pretty well. We have had two meetings already with the Sports Minister and he has indicated his willingness and the Ministry's willingness to support the national teams. As a former player he knows that it takes to prepare national teams. He has asked that we also try to help ourselves and I think that's a fair suggestion. They have indicated what they will help with and what we need to help ourselves with. I think going forward we can say that the Minister and his ministry is on board to support national football," he said.
Regarding the preparations for the Pan American Games, Wallace added: "I have been making my rounds of meetings. We have met with the Olympic committee which will take care of the major expense."
Wallace emphasised that there would have to be greater effort to source funding for national teams.
"We will need to find additional financial support for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. We have sent those budgets in for all our national teams to the Ministry. We have a busy year ahead of us and trying to really prepare properly for tournaments. We have to take some decisions. It doesn't make sense spending a whole lot of money to prepare a team but yet not going the full distance and it shows when we actually play in the tournament.
"For instance if it costs $150,000 to prepare a team for the tournament, then do not provide $100,00 and expect that everything will be taken care of and expect the team to come out successful. Overall, we also have to find other resources to meet the budget requirements."
Shaun Fuentes is the Director of Communications for TTFA–shaunfuentes@yahoo.com