The inaugural Next Level Consulting Limited Community (NLCL) Cup Under-15 football tournament will get going this weekend following its launch at the VIP Room of the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima on Sunday.
The tournament is being sponsored in part by Next Level Consulting Limited, Next Level Foundation, the National Gas Company of T&T, the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, as well as Ramsingh’s Sports World.
Starting this weekend, it will feature ten teams from across Trinidad, with a further four anticipated to participate in Tobago. The highly competitive Group A kicks off this Saturday (March 25), and will feature five teams from the North and East zones (Trendsetter Hawks, FC Ginga, Queens Park Cricket Club Youth Academy, Santa Rosa FC, and Creek Sports & Cultural Club).
A very balanced Group B will start their group matches on Sunday (March 26) and will have five teams from the South and Central zones (Waterloo Institute of Soccer Players, Gasparillo Youths, Moruga FC, Cox Football Academy, and Point Fortin Youth Football Academy).
When finally constituted, it is anticipated that Group C will feature four of the top youth teams from Tobago and will kick off at a later date.
In his brief address, tournament chairman, Brian K Jordan advised about the importance of youth development for our young footballers.
He said, “In doing the analysis, the NLCL Community Cup tournament organising committee found that the recently completed U-19 tournament had approximately 80 percent of the players being between the ages of 15 and 17. Effectively, as that platform is helping those older age groups, the next step would be to work with helping the development of the very important U-15 age group.”
The NLCL Community Cup tournament, originally started in 2019 for U-19 footballers, has become one of the nation’s largest private charitable youth tournaments with the strong assistance of a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Sport and Community Development. Inclusive of the newly added U-15 tournament, some 700 young footballers will be able to benefit nationwide from the youth development opportunities being provided under the umbrella organisation.
Representing Minister of Sport and Community Development, Shamfa Cudjoe, Justin Latapy-George of the Sport Company of T&T (SporTT), and Patrice Charles, Deputy Director of Sports Division within the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, spoke on the importance of public-private partnerships and focusing on youth development as a way to positively impact communities, as well as enrich the calibre of talent available to national coaches and the national football system.
Matches:
Saturday (March 25):
Venue: Eddie Hart Rec. Grd, Tunapuna
Trendsetter Hawks vs FC Ginga, 2 pm
Santa Rosa FC vs QPCC Youth Academy, 3.45 pm
Sunday, March 26:
Venue: Beach Camp, Palo Seco:
Cox Football Academy vs Point Fortin Youth Football Academy, 2 pm
Gasparillo Youths vs Moruga FC, 3.45 pm