Skeene: National philosophy soon.

[Trini _2026]

Skeene: National philosophy soon.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).

The Trinidad and Tobago Pro League yesterday took the first step towards the establishment of a national philosophy for local football with a six and a half hour long seminar at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Dexter Skeene, Pro League CEO, expressed his satisfaction with the quality of ideas and level of interaction at the symposium and vowed to work on its implementation.
Skeene heads a five member committee who volunteered to document the ideas generated yesterday into a "working paper". The committee also comprises past and present football stakeholders Keith Look Loy, Osmond Downer, Lincoln "Tiger" Phillips, Arthur Hutton and Delano Sanchez.
"It is just the start and it can only be positive for our football," said Skeene. "A lot of suggestions came forward as to how we should proceed with a national philosophy for football in Trinidad and Tobago.
"We plan to implement it within the Pro League because we operate at all levels from youth to senior levels."
The symposium stressed the value of attitude, mental and physical preparation and youth development in creating a more successful future for the local game.
Phillips, who is the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) technical director and a former national standout, Vibe CT 105 W Connection owner David J Williams, Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA director Brian Lewis and 2007 Under-17 World Cup coach Anton Corneal all gave presentations that ranged from the style of play on the field to the importance of sound lifestyle choices and administrative support and the concept of winning.
There were also several contributions from the floor including national head coach and former Holland World Cup player, Wim Rijsbergen, who bemoaned the diet and fitness level of his local squad. He revealed that as few as five players bothered to have breakfast on the country's last overseas assignment to El Salvador, which ended in a goalless draw.
"Not one of (the national squad who faced El Salvador) was ready physically for international football," said Rijsbergen.
More than one speaker made mention of the absence of the T&TFF bigwigs yesterday. A T&TFF representative was listed, in the initial programme, to present on "the roles and functions of the different organisations affiliated with football in Trinidad and Tobago".
However, Skeene, who said T&TFF president Oliver Camps endorsed the symposium but was unable to attend, insisted that their presence was not vital at this stage.
"The technical director (Phillips), head coach (Rijsbergen) and youth development officer (Corneal) were there and were able to give their views," said Skeene, "and I think they were the most important people at this stage.
"The final report will be sent to the T&TFF."

[Touches]

Skeene: National philosophy soon
Lasana Liburd

There were also several contributions from the floor including national head coach and former Holland World Cup player, Wim Rijsbergen, who bemoaned the diet and fitness level of his local squad. He revealed that as few as five players bothered to have breakfast on the country's last overseas assignment to El Salvador, which ended in a goalless draw.

"Not one of (the national squad who faced El Salvador) was ready physically for international football," said Rijsbergen.

The above quote is the most worrying thing for me...this is why our players are thin and nashy...have a poor level of fitness and does get pongs off the ball.

And we does wonder why we getting licks...is small things like this does make a huge difference.

Them fellas wanted 2 doubles with slight pepper and a apple J or a KFC dinner special before they step out on the field or wha?

[grskywalker]

More than one speaker made mention of the absence of the T&TFF bigwigs yesterday. A T&TFF representative was listed, in the initial programme, to present on "the roles and functions of the different organisations affiliated with football in Trinidad and Tobago".

However, Skeene, who said T&TFF president Oliver Camps endorsed the symposium but was unable to attend, insisted that their presence was not vital at this stage.

Is it just me, but if you are a National organisation representing the interests of football then should'nt they be there?

[FF]

Anybody else make out that dcs on the committee??

[Trini _2026]

Skeene: National philosophy soon
Lasana Liburd

There were also several contributions from the floor including national head coach and former Holland World Cup player, Wim Rijsbergen, who bemoaned the diet and fitness level of his local squad. He revealed that as few as five players bothered to have breakfast on the country's last overseas assignment to El Salvador, which ended in a goalless draw.

"Not one of (the national squad who faced El Salvador) was ready physically for international football," said Rijsbergen.

The above quote is the most worrying thing for me...this is why our players are thin and nashy...have a poor level of fitness and does get pongs off the ball.

And we does wonder why we getting licks...is small things like this does make a huge difference.

Them fellas wanted 2 doubles with slight pepper and a apple J or a KFC dinner special before they step out on the field or wha?

yes touches do remember the kfc have to have plenty ketchup on the leg and thigh or breast

[Coop's]

I've been reading on here regularly about what our players eat and their size and how much it affects their game i'm just trying to look at it differently.

I remembered when i played with Defence Force we had an Englishman from the Coast Guard who used to train us,we could not let that man know or see us eating Roti and Solo etc etc but you know he could not stop that.Look at the way Brazilian players are treated people does be amazed by the way they play,any one ever found out what's their diet?what do they eat.

Is it normal for Footballers all over the world to eat the same diet?grow up in the same environment?proper training etc etc how big are Chinese,Japanese etc etc players?

Everad tried implementing a philosophy some years ago but no one took him on,if that happened at that time we would have been better of today but is the same fight down thing that going on today,if it was a foreigner may be.

[MEP]

Just imagine what would happen if TnT were to play the Croatian National team where everyone is at least 6'2" but that's besides the point this might be a reflection on TnT itself and the bigger question would be are kids receiving proper nutrition?

[Football supporter]

Even in Leagues one and two in England, diet is strictly controlled. Each day after training, players, including the reserves and youth teams, eat together at most clubs. The diet is prepared from a sheet provided by the physios and usually involves pasta, chicken, wholemeal brown bread etc, although there is variety. Also, on away matches, the teams will eat together from a prepared menu.

Who knows if it makes a difference, but it certainly enhances the level of professionalism.

[weary1969]

Thank u FPATT me eh care if a man sign in division Z in England they will do betta than d Pro League because dem fellas professional and we jokey tooooooooo baddddddddddd

[Bakes]

Even in Leagues one and two in England, diet is strictly controlled. Each day after training, players, including the reserves and youth teams, eat together at most clubs. The diet is prepared from a sheet provided by the physios and usually involves pasta, chicken, wholemeal brown bread etc, although there is variety. Also, on away matches, the teams will eat together from a prepared menu.

Who knows if it makes a difference, but it certainly enhances the level of professionalism.

That's true of most professional outfits here in the States as well...I'm really not sure why some are questioning it.

[Tallman]

Towards a National Philosophy for Football in T&T
By Delano Sanchez (Warrior Nation Media)

Arriving at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium I found the symposium under way with a registration table and some 50+ people in attendance. After signing up and taking my symposium package which included a paper by Brian Lewis and a notepad, I looked for an available seat and saw one Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips sitting at the back next to an empty seat seemingly going over in his mind what he was to contribute. A quick smile and shake of the hand and I was quietly listening to the proceedings with this great thinker next to me. Dexter Skeene was introducing Brian Lewis at the podium as the facilitator as I quickly scanned the room looking at the overall setup. There were two (or more) loud speakers controlled by the sound man in the back, a projector, wireless microphones were not in short supply as were a few laptops operated by the support staff who were busy taking note of all the material discussed. Kudos must go to CNC3 and WinTV for having their camera crews there for the whole day as I immediately hoped the entire symposium could possibly be made available to the public via ttproleague.com. I even allowed myself to think we could even go a step further and have the symposium streamed live over the internet with all the media tools on hand….with the right volunteers.
Read More...

[Coop's]

Towards a National Philosophy for Football in T&T
By Delano Sanchez (Warrior Nation Media)

Arriving at the VIP Lounge of the Hasely Crawford Stadium I found the symposium under way with a registration table and some 50+ people in attendance. After signing up and taking my symposium package which included a paper by Brian Lewis and a notepad, I looked for an available seat and saw one Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips sitting at the back next to an empty seat seemingly going over in his mind what he was to contribute. A quick smile and shake of the hand and I was quietly listening to the proceedings with this great thinker next to me. Dexter Skeene was introducing Brian Lewis at the podium as the facilitator as I quickly scanned the room looking at the overall setup. There were two (or more) loud speakers controlled by the sound man in the back, a projector, wireless microphones were not in short supply as were a few laptops operated by the support staff who were busy taking note of all the material discussed. Kudos must go to CNC3 and WinTV for having their camera crews there for the whole day as I immediately hoped the entire symposium could possibly be made available to the public via ttproleague.com. I even allowed myself to think we could even go a step further and have the symposium streamed live over the internet with all the media tools on hand….with the right volunteers.
Read More...

         Tallman thanks for this,good read,seems like it was well organized,as the writer said i don't know if we had prior notice of this symposium but we should of have a few members(spys)at this event,we does discuss too much good stuff on here and it's wasted,somebody could have made a presentation it have some bright boys here   

[Tallman]

Tallman thanks for this,good read,seems like it was well organized,as the writer said i don't know if we had prior notice of this symposium but we should of have a few members(spys)at this event,we does discuss too much good stuff on here and it's wasted,somebody could have made a presentation it have some bright boys here   

Actually, Delano is the PRO of the Warrior Nation, so he was our representative there. We only heard about the symposium through the newspapers, so there wasn't any time to do any presentation. Delano is on the committee charged with doing the report to be handed over to the TTFF by November 10th. Hopefully, after doing more things like this, we would be asked to participate instead of just being an onlooker.

[asylumseeker]

Walking into the stadium is always a special feeling but something wasn’t right as I stared down at the field….big patches of mud around the goals and along the by-lines diminished any aura about the place and was downright worrying as I wondered how long it would take to repair this field as it didn’t seem suitable for international competition. If it isn’t taken care of during the rainy season what happens during the dry season? The pitch was playable but seemed more like the mangled mess you expect to see when an Englishman smiles.

Pure niceness x Delano. 

[E-man]

Walking into the stadium is always a special feeling but something wasn’t right as I stared down at the field….big patches of mud around the goals and along the by-lines diminished any aura about the place and was downright worrying as I wondered how long it would take to repair this field as it didn’t seem suitable for international competition. If it isn’t taken care of during the rainy season what happens during the dry season? The pitch was playable but seemed more like the mangled mess you expect to see when an Englishman smiles.

Pure niceness x Delano. 

That goes in the most memorable quotes thread.

taking my symposium package which included a paper by Brian Lewis and a notepad

What, no free pen? What kind of symposium is that?