walter.alibey@guardian.co.tt
Scouts from the United States will be on the lookout for new talent when some 30 young student-footballers compete at a Colleges Combine football match at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella this morning from 10 am.
The initiative between US sports company Global Premier Soccer (GPS) and the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) is aimed at providing opportunities for young budding footballers at schools to be exposed to opportunities for academic success, while at the same time, pursuing life potentially as a professional footballer.
At a press briefing at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva yesterday, the company's general manager Neil Holloway said the event provides them with an opportunity to enhance the development of the sport in T&T by displaying the talent that exists.
Anthony Roy, the T&T representative to the GPS, said he has seen the attention and coverage given to schools' football in the T&T which has been a tremendous asset to the young people in T&T, saying nowhere else in the world does schools' football receive such coverage.
In the US, schools football has taken a back seat to club football, which Roy believes has a negative effect.
"We think school soccer is the way to go, producing student-athletes therefore in the future and giving them better opportunities," Roy said.
"Not everyone can become a professional footballer but we do believe that if people want the opportunity, most people, once they keep up their academics, can become student-athletes, can attend American colleges, can attend universities and arguably go on to get a degree in various studies. And if the soccer does not happen in the future, they have their academics to fall back on."
Organisers have also scheduled a college's combined match in the sister-isle of Tobago on Monday. Only recently, William Wallace, the SSFL president said his league intends to provide assistance in providing scholarships for student-athletes as it moves towards developing a comprehensive programme to cater for the nation's youth, particularly in the environment that exists.
Meanwhile, the schools All-Star football match will take place tomorrow from 2 pm at the same venue. The match will feature the best players from south-central versus the best from north-east among both the boys and girls.
The girls' encounter will begin at 2 pm while the boys' will begin at 4 pm.