Phillips wants united approach.
Technical director enters SSFL/TTFF debate.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Lincoln "Tiger" Phillips, Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) technical director, has called for more dialogue between the country's stakeholders as a means of building on the success of the Soca Warriors.
Phillips, a former star national goalkeeper, expressed his disappointment at the recent exchange between the Secondary Schools' Football League (SSFL) and the national coaches and stressed the importance of building on a successful 2006 Germany World Cup qualifying campaign.
"T&T is now at a very crucial and important period of its football evolution," said Phillips. "If the next phase of our development is handled correctly, one can expect to see the level of our football rise significantly to the point where our national teams will begin to qualify for all FIFA competitions."
Phillips maintained that national under-16 coach Anton Corneal was correct in attempting to get his team together early to improve T&T's chances of qualifying for the Korea 2007 Under-17 World Championship.
Corneal suggested that his squad stood a better chance of qualifying if his players did not represent their schools at the ongoing SSFL competition. In response, SSFL general secretary Azaad Khan said that the schools would resist any effort to interfere with its curriculum.
Phillips said that more should be done to improve the quality of football in schools although he agreed with national head coach Wim Rijsbergen who insisted the national team took precedence over all other interests.
"One must ask which among the three entities (SSFL, PFL or national) will have the greatest impact on our players' professional development and future opportunities," said the former Queen's Royal College custodian. "The answer is the national team for a variety of reasons. However, that does not mean that the national program is more important than the others.
"In fact, it is vital that efforts are made to improve the standard of play and coaching in both the PFL youth leagues and the SSFL, as this would ultimately benefit the national program."
The technical director argued that more developmental work should be done in primary schools, so "by the time the players are 12 or 13, we will have a much better idea of whether they are national team material".
He also supported the Dutch model, as described by Rijsbergen, which encourages young players to train before and after school.
"I cannot see why our youth national team players cannot assemble in the early morning and then after school, train and play with their SSFL teams," said Phillips. "Then, once the season is over, these players can go full-time with the national team."
He urged all parties to seek an amicable settlement for the sake of the national game and the good of the teenaged national players.
"Being called to play for the national team is an honour and a privilege," he said. "Everyone involved in the game should endeavour to cultivate this attitude in our players as they develop. Dialogue between the stakeholders would certainly go a long way to resolving this situation in the overall interest of the nation's football."