Dear Editor,
My concern is that our football players are not being treated fairly. I attended the Futsal training to meet with coach Konstin Constantine and it was really heartbreaking to hear that some players from the South and other distant places didn't make it to practice because, I am positively certain it was because, they did not have a parent with a vehicle or even money to travel especially when some of these players come from underprivileged communities, hence the reason why our best players sometimes is not on our national youth and senior team.
Why the TTFA (T&T Football Association) cannot hire a maxi taxi that can move the players from points A, B, C, and D to attend training?
I am sure some kind of arrangement can be made to have the players be present in training on a regular basis which will help advance the coach's programme and the team's development and preparations.
I see that our Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith appears to be always willing to help out so why not ask him to provide transport at least three times per week with a Police bus to help out.
Also, I know for a fact that some of our players even attend training on hungry bellies, they don't have the proper playing equipment like boots, socks, shin guards, they always asking the coach or manager for money to get back home I have been there, done that, when I had my own team back in Brooklyn, USA. Our players are crying out and it seems that nobody is listening.
Since I have returned home, I have seen some of our talented players are ending up in prison and even being murdered and committing crimes in order to survive.
Now, there's no Super League or Pro League so they have contracts that offer them a small something at the end of the month.
I am hoping that after coach Terry Fenwick's contract has ended, the new coach will also be a foreign-based coach including the women's team coach. I say this because there are too much politics and bacchanal in our football, and with local coaches.
We need professional coaches to develop the youth, the grassroots, and the academies programmes which are the foundation of football and the future of the sport.
Earl "Mango" Pierre, St James.