After almost two years of no activities, there will be football in the six Regional Associations this year as the Ascension Football Tournament of T&T has agreed to invest an estimated $500,000 into zonal football. The funds will be given to the Eastern Football Association (EFA), Northern FA, Southern FA, Central FA, Tobago FA and the Eastern Counties Football Union (ECFU).
Tournament Director of the Ascension Football Tournament Keiron Edwards said the sponsorship is to ensure that the foundation of local football at the various zones is kept alive, particularly at zonal youth levels.
Ascension's sponsorship will see each zone receiving $60,000, plus an estimated $30,000 for referees and other operational costs. The zonal executive will decide on how the tournaments would be played, the number of teams and who will be the teams taking part.
The winning team in each zone will walk away with $30,000, with $20,000 for the runner-up and $10,000 for the team placing third.
"We have been meeting with the officials from the T&T Football Association, the Normalisation Committee, the Referees Department, etc to ensure that issues related to refereeing, being compliant and club licensing among others are worked out," Edwards said.
He noted also that he believes the football association can provide much-needed assistance concerning supplying equipment, as well as the starting up of youth leagues in the various zones. The Ascension tournament which started on March 25 of this year, has seen top-quality, competitive action among 10 teams at the Phase II recreation ground in La Horquetta, the Arima Velodrome and the Police Barracks in St James.
Edwards said the Ascension tournament was also expected to include activities for tier one and tier two teams as well but restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have ruled it out. He promises that next year and there will be activities for all tiers of football in T&T.
