Country before school. ...Rijsbergen backs Corneal in SSFL rift.

[trinbago]

Rijsbergen backs Corneal in SSFL rift.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).

Trinidad and Tobago national football team coach Wim Rijsbergen is set to meet with Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) representatives to discuss the use of national under-17 players who still attend school. However, Rijsbergen announced his support for the stance taken by his youth teams coach Anton Corneal who said the interest of national team must take precedence over that of the schools. "There should only be one interest," said Rijsbergen, a former Dutch World Cup player and an assistant coach for the Soca Warriors at the 2006 World Cup.
Corneal said last week that he might withdraw players from the SSFL so as to improve their chances at the final Concacaf qualifying phase for the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which will be staged next April.
Corneal, head coach of the national youth teams, said that his players would be doing strength training and should rest rather than represent their schools on off-days. He also suggested that the low standard of the SSFL would erode the forward steps made by his players in their third place finish at the 2006 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Youth Tournament.
But Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) general secretary Azaad Khan said the schools would resist any effort to stop national players from competing.
Khan said he could not see how the schools' league, which ends in October, could hinder the national team's preparation for a tournament that starts next April and pointed that FIFA rules only allowed countries to withdraw players five days before a match.
George Hislop, a retired magistrate and former chairman of the SSFL Disciplinary Committee, also insisted that a student's development included extra-curricular activities and urged the Ministry of Education to ensure students were not unnecessarily disrupted from their curriculum with the often unrealistic lure of a future in professional football.
Rijsbergen said such matters should be dealt with in a constructive manner between the respective stakeholders, and urged that everyone work together for the sake of the country.
But he showed no sign of budging from Corneal's stated position and did not accept that national duty might be an unnecessary distraction for students. He said it was normal in Holland for young players to practice before school on mornings and then after school in the evening.
This, he explained, was the professional ideal. It would take Trinidad and Tobago some time to get to this level but, he felt, it was in everyone's best interest to help take the country there.
"We have to sit down and make a plan with the schools," said Rijsbergen. "We cannot have a situation where we are bad talking the schools and the schools are bad talking the national sessions. There is only one interest and that is the national team and the country. "A lot of players want a good education and, if we can achieve that, then that is the best thing for everybody." The 2006 SSFL season kicks off on Thursday with competition in the north, east and south zones.

[palos]

Very interesting.

T&T is my country and I love it dearly, but knowing my people, I don't hold out much hope for the vision Rijsbergen is seeing..which is the correct vision in my opinion.  Just the statement...."the unrealistic lure of a future in professional football" by someone who is influential in the SSFL speaks volumes.  Too many different people pushin different agendas all in an effort to further narrow self interests.

As ah say previously....we either serious about the football thing or we not.  In some instances...many of our powers that be too small minded to grasp that.  To take that leap.  One can but hope for the best tho.

[saga pinto]

Very interesting.

T&T is my country and I love it dearly, but knowing my people, I don't hold out much hope for the vision Rijsbergen is seeing..which is the correct vision in my opinion.  Just the statement...."the unrealistic lure of a future in professional football" by someone who is influential in the SSFL speaks volumes.  Too many different people pushin different agendas all in an effort to further narrow self interests.

As ah say previously....we either serious about the football thing or we not.  In some instances...many of our powers that be too small minded to grasp that.  To take that leap.  One can but hope for the best tho.

Well said 

[Mr Mc]

Putting myself in the shoes of these youths, if it was me and I was tapped to be a Nashie, with a youth tournament coming up, I would say to my coach at school,
"coach, I have national team practice before and after school, and I would really like to represent for my country I will not be able to play for FATIMA this year"

what would you guys do?

[ann3boys]

you know what??how hard can it be ?? 22 players to train for the national team- 60 schools in the sssl, at 22 players each. surely Corneal can give the respective coaches a week's notice before he needs the players- or better still a schedule for the next 3 months (1 term) and the schools' coaches can make the selected players available for the time, cos they will have available replacements. why must ew make the situation an all or nothing event??? just co-operate and use the players as necessary...remember these guys will not be required for national duty as regularly as in the sssl. they need to keep their fitness level up. how come Wim and Corneal can object to this? national duty is a good thing, yes, but you don't need them every week, in fact not for weeks at a time- they expect the players to just stay put and do nothing?
mountain out of a molehill...as usual!!

[palos]

you know what??how hard can it be ?? 22 players to train for the national team- 60 schools in the sssl, at 22 players each. surely Corneal can give the respective coaches a week's notice before he needs the players- or better still a schedule for the next 3 months (1 term) and the schools' coaches can make the selected players available for the time, cos they will have available replacements. why must ew make the situation an all or nothing event??? just co-operate and use the players as necessary...remember these guys will not be required for national duty as regularly as in the sssl. they need to keep their fitness level up. how come Wim and Corneal can object to this? national duty is a good thing, yes, but you don't need them every week, in fact not for weeks at a time- they expect the players to just stay put and do nothing?
mountain out of a molehill...as usual!!

No disrespeck.  But that is precisely why we will not progress.  The National team is SERIOUS BUSINESS.  We need an overhaul of our national setup, which is what these guys tryin to do, IF....we want to compete at the top level of our region and internationally

Our National players playing in the Colleges League will hinder that process. 

I will say again.  Is either we serious or not.  If SSFL so important to us that we need to have our young nationals play in that league....by all means let them play.

But when we go to these WC qualfiers, cyah compete and get we ass THRASHED...doh complain.  Doh ask...how come dem Haitian and dem so good and we team eh able wit dem?

Simple.

[ann3boys]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

[weary1969]

Let's see how this works out.

[TrinInfinite]

when people started lambasting ttff for tryin tuh pull deyouths out, man blast dem, but i said wim was also behind this iniative, now he has come out in public and stated he will try to push this agenda, i think it will help our football for the youths to be coached under wim and van d instead of staying in school football where their knowledge will only expand to a certain extent.. khan better be reasonable instead of being a jackass..

[palos]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

I hear what you sayin.  But sometimes the "training" in question is counter productive.  In this case...the "training" at SSFL level may very well be counter productive. 

It tough enough to learn something new. 

It much harder to unlearn bad habits and THEN replace it with something new. 

It exponentially harder to unlearn bad habits, learn something new, reimplement the bad habits, and then unlearn them again.  That's counter productive in my opinion.  Best yuh do nothing and practice the something new in a controlled environment.

Respeck.

[Tongue]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

it is called making a sacrifice. was years and years we using de same formula and what it get we? NUTTEN! We stick in shit and we doh want tuh accept dis...Wim bringing another different approach. he and corneal want dem on a program....a serious program that would only help the players individually. if what we had was wukking we wouldnah get we ass wash in all dem toournaments. man dat against dis need to look at what countries like mexico, us, and now haiti doing and the results dey getting.

[jai john]

What about fellas who get scholarships to play football ? Can they say dey not playing for St Anthonys, fatima, QRC, Naps etc. Big picture folks ..... lots of factors need to be considered before tinkering starts..... many youths could lose their opportunities for football scholarships, good education etc. or be out of school because repeating opps are not forthcoming...

[jai john]

Did I mention the sponship of the colleges league without it's best players ? ...the list of factors is even longer than those already mentioned .....

[palos]

What about fellas who get scholarships to play football ? Can they say dey not playing for St Anthonys, fatima, QRC, Naps etc. Big picture folks ..... lots of factors need to be considered before tinkering starts..... many youths could lose their opportunities for football scholarships, good education etc. or be out of school because repeating opps are not forthcoming...

I really cyah see a school abroad dat issuin scholarships to play football tellin a player....aye...we woulda offer yuh a scholarship if yuh was playin fuh CIC, QRC, Malick etc but because yuh is a NATIONAL PLAYER...no scholarship fuh u.

But...daz jes me.

[jai john]

What about fellas who get scholarships to play football ? Can they say dey not playing for St Anthonys, fatima, QRC, Naps etc. Big picture folks ..... lots of factors need to be considered before tinkering starts..... many youths could lose their opportunities for football scholarships, good education etc. or be out of school because repeating opps are not forthcoming...

I really cyah see a school abroad dat issuin scholarships to play football tellin a player....aye...we woulda offer yuh a scholarship if yuh was playin fuh CIC, QRC, Malick etc but because yuh is a NATIONAL PLAYER...no scholarship fuh u.

But...daz jes me.

You do of couse know that you have to be recognised somewhere and that many more players who play for the national team get scholarships ...devaluate your league and you run the risk of people saying ..the best players dont play in that league so how good are you ?
try and convince the sponsors of your argument ... maybe I will sponsor cricket or basketball this year yes !

[palos]

What about fellas who get scholarships to play football ? Can they say dey not playing for St Anthonys, fatima, QRC, Naps etc. Big picture folks ..... lots of factors need to be considered before tinkering starts..... many youths could lose their opportunities for football scholarships, good education etc. or be out of school because repeating opps are not forthcoming...

I really cyah see a school abroad dat issuin scholarships to play football tellin a player....aye...we woulda offer yuh a scholarship if yuh was playin fuh CIC, QRC, Malick etc but because yuh is a NATIONAL PLAYER...no scholarship fuh u.

But...daz jes me.

You do of couse know that you have to be recognised somewhere and that many more players who play for the national team get scholarships ...devaluate your league and you run the risk of people saying ..the best players dont play in that league so how good are you ?
try and convince the sponsors of your argument ... maybe I will sponsor cricket or basketball this year yes !

Again....no disrespeck...but you APPEAR to be only looking at obstacles.  How about using the same energy to look at ways to make it WORK?  Assuming of course you buy into the argument that in order to compete at the higher level even within our own region, we have to look at developing our young talented footballers in a more professional environment.

If you don't buy into that philosophy....it makes no sense continuing this discussion.

Respect.

[daryn]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

I hear what you sayin.  But sometimes the "training" in question is counter productive.  In this case...the "training" at SSFL level may very well be counter productive. 

It tough enough to learn something new. 

It much harder to unlearn bad habits and THEN replace it with something new. 

It exponentially harder to unlearn bad habits, learn something new, reimplement the bad habits, and then unlearn them again.  That's counter productive in my opinion.  Best yuh do nothing and practice the something new in a controlled environment.

Respeck.

are they going to set up some kind of live-in school for the national players?  because if everybody commuting from various points to one location for training there are restrictions on how often they could train together, and that will also contribute to us falling behind.  Haiti has a national football academy.  bigger countries have acadamies in their club systems.

other than that they should put some thought into improving the quality/competitiveness of the SSFL, maybe cutting down the number of teams in the highest division, realigning the zones or providing incentives for having more qualified coaches. 

[Tongue]

scholar who!

[jai john]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

I hear what you sayin.  But sometimes the "training" in question is counter productive.  In this case...the "training" at SSFL level may very well be counter productive. 

It tough enough to learn something new. 

It much harder to unlearn bad habits and THEN replace it with something new. 

It exponentially harder to unlearn bad habits, learn something new, reimplement the bad habits, and then unlearn them again.  That's counter productive in my opinion.  Best yuh do nothing and practice the something new in a controlled environment.

Respeck.

are they going to set up some kind of live-in school for the national players?  because if everybody commuting from various points to one location for training there are restrictions on how often they could train together, and that will also contribute to us falling behind.  Haiti has a national football academy.  bigger countries have acadamies in their club systems.

other than that they should put some thought into improving the quality/competitiveness of the SSFL, maybe cutting down the number of teams in the highest division, realigning the zones or providing incentives for having more qualified coaches. 

you know Palos go say you only looking at Obstacles.... he has not however attempted to treat with a single one of the many concerns expressed . Just ready to follow the new pied piper i guess ...no matter where it leads

[palos]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

I hear what you sayin.  But sometimes the "training" in question is counter productive.  In this case...the "training" at SSFL level may very well be counter productive. 

It tough enough to learn something new. 

It much harder to unlearn bad habits and THEN replace it with something new. 

It exponentially harder to unlearn bad habits, learn something new, reimplement the bad habits, and then unlearn them again.  That's counter productive in my opinion.  Best yuh do nothing and practice the something new in a controlled environment.

Respeck.

are they going to set up some kind of live-in school for the national players?  because if everybody commuting from various points to one location for training there are restrictions on how often they could train together, and that will also contribute to us falling behind.  Haiti has a national football academy.  bigger countries have acadamies in their club systems.

other than that they should put some thought into improving the quality/competitiveness of the SSFL, maybe cutting down the number of teams in the highest division, realigning the zones or providing incentives for having more qualified coaches. 

Those are excellent suggestions daryn.  Unfortunately, we workin within a particular time table here.  The CONCACAF WC U17 Qualifying takes place early 2007.  The SSFL season begins this week.  Our needs are much more immediate.  I think that's an excellent medium to long term strategy...but if we want to have a PROPER chance of qualifying out of this tournament, we have to make sacrifices and think a lil bit outside the box.  Those initiatives cannot at this stage be implemented in time.  PERHAPS next season or the season after that.

Jes my 2 cents.

[Arimaman]

Folks, this is a very interesting discussion.  I specifically remember BSC telling men on the 1991 team that went to Portugal that professional opportunities will open up.  He was partially right and mostly wrong.  I don't believe that not playing in the colleges league will diminish one's chances of gaining a scholarship.  For those of you that don't know, coaches in T&T have a network with the coaches abroad and they speak regularly, therefore, they will still communicate to the coaches which kids are good enough to play abroad etc.

So don't worry about the sholarship players.  

The part I worry about is the kids' development.  While I agree that training and playing games with the national team is twice more developmental than playing on your colleges league team, my question is "what games will the national team play"?  If we just practicing, then that's nonsense.  If we playing in game situations, it makes sense.

But doh tell me that the kids just training and not playing games and tell me it better for them.  That ah not buying.  The problem with the colleges league is that the kids on the national team, way above the rest of the kids on thier high school team and they don't work on development themselves.  It's really about the kids working with their coaches to develop their shortcomings.  Thus if Anton/Wim tell a player what to work on, he can do it on his high school team to some degree.

[jai john]

I hope many folks realise that the same system we are critisizing produced Yorke, latapy, Faustin, marcelle, hutson Charles, nixon, stern,Shaka,Clausel,Ron la, woodley,Husbands, shall i continue
Intead of removing the cream try to make some more cream ,,,but wim eh want all at work .... he want to work wid only a few players ...is that what we are looking for right now ?
wouln't an imroved colleges league utilising new and improved training technques etc. be better in the longrun ? Wouldnt expansion of the pool be a better option ight now ...since the Pro league eh good, de colleges league eh good and de pros only playing in lower divisions overseas ?

[Mr Mc]

Folks, this is a very interesting discussion.  I specifically remember BSC telling men on the 1991 team that went to Portugal that professional opportunities will open up.  He was partially right and mostly wrong.  I don't believe that not playing in the colleges league will diminish one's chances of gaining a scholarship.  For those of you that don't know, coaches in T&T have a network with the coaches abroad and they speak regularly, therefore, they will still communicate to the coaches which kids are good enough to play abroad etc.

So don't worry about the sholarship players.  

The part I worry about is the kids' development.  While I agree that training and playing games with the national team is twice more developmental than playing on your colleges league team, my question is "what games will the national team play"?  If we just practicing, then that's nonsense.  If we playing in game situations, it makes sense.

But doh tell me that the kids just training and not playing games and tell me it better for them.  That ah not buying.  The problem with the colleges league is that the kids on the national team, way above the rest of the kids on thier high school team and they don't work on development themselves.  It's really about the kids working with their coaches to develop their shortcomings.  Thus if Anton/Wim tell a player what to work on, he can do it on his high school team to some degree.

I think most of us that agree with the national team players, skipping colleges league this year, are HOPING that we will see the national team in regular practice, and with regualr competition against high level competition on a regular basis, i know i am.
It will be a waste of time to take them from school and not have them traning and competing regularly at a high level, so the assumption is that we need them removed from college ball so that they will have time and availability to participate in this.
I dont think the ssfl will collapse if these guys dont compete, of course with the top talent gone, the level will drop a bit, but it will still be competitive, and other players may now get to shine, and maybe get called up to the national team.

All who are so worried about the colleges league and level of competition, would you also say that we should keep all our best players in the Pro League and not let to go off to play at higher levels of competition, so as to maintain the level of football in the Pro League?  I dont think so, thats what the MLS does to the detriment of the US National team, IMHO

[Arimaman]

I hope many folks realise that the same system we are critisizing produced Yorke, latapy, Faustin, marcelle, hutson Charles, nixon, stern,Shaka,Clausel,Ron la, woodley,Husbands, shall i continue

Let's be reaistic.  Very few players are "developed" by the colleges league.  Most of these players were developed by their clubs, however, their first chance to be seen by the public was through the colleges league. 

Please half the college league coaches cyar coach anyway. 

[jai john]

I hope many folks realise that the same system we are critisizing produced Yorke, latapy, Faustin, marcelle, hutson Charles, nixon, stern,Shaka,Clausel,Ron la, woodley,Husbands, shall i continue

Let's be reaistic.  Very few players are "developed" by the colleges league.  Most of these players were developed by their clubs, however, their first chance to be seen by the public was through the colleges league. 

Please half the college league coaches cyar coach anyway. 

Ah yah argue dat . but whatever Happened to the youth teams of the pro league etc. ? Wasnt there supposedly a plan to evelop he youth there ?

[daryn]

I understand that it serious- but are you saying that training is scheduled every day or every other day for the next 7 months until the next match? if so,then yes I agree with you, but if not, isn't it better to keep the guys in training than not?
my only point is the timing and the scheduling.
no disrespect taken, i'm glad to get the correct info.

I hear what you sayin.  But sometimes the "training" in question is counter productive.  In this case...the "training" at SSFL level may very well be counter productive. 

It tough enough to learn something new. 

It much harder to unlearn bad habits and THEN replace it with something new. 

It exponentially harder to unlearn bad habits, learn something new, reimplement the bad habits, and then unlearn them again.  That's counter productive in my opinion.  Best yuh do nothing and practice the something new in a controlled environment.

Respeck.

are they going to set up some kind of live-in school for the national players?  because if everybody commuting from various points to one location for training there are restrictions on how often they could train together, and that will also contribute to us falling behind.  Haiti has a national football academy.  bigger countries have acadamies in their club systems.

other than that they should put some thought into improving the quality/competitiveness of the SSFL, maybe cutting down the number of teams in the highest division, realigning the zones or providing incentives for having more qualified coaches. 

Those are excellent suggestions daryn.  Unfortunately, we workin within a particular time table here.  The CONCACAF WC U17 Qualifying takes place early 2007.  The SSFL season begins this week.  Our needs are much more immediate.  I think that's an excellent medium to long term strategy...but if we want to have a PROPER chance of qualifying out of this tournament, we have to make sacrifices and think a lil bit outside the box.  Those initiatives cannot at this stage be implemented in time.  PERHAPS next season or the season after that.

Jes my 2 cents.

I agree with you with regard to preparation for the upcoming qualifiers.   It's just unfortunate that we always have to resort to last-minute fixes.

[ffreturns]

Pulling players out of collage is not going to solve T&T problem now, we could probably beat teams like Hati but when it come to teams like the U S A,Mexico,Costa Rica and Canada we licks book for sure these players been playing and training together for about 2 to 3 years they might as well let them finish playing for they school in October, it is to late already the TTFF ,SSFL and the leagues will have to get together and think of a better solution.

[Tenorsaw]

Lets be honest.  We don't always have the best coaches asnd training methods at the secondary level back home, and for a national player it is often a step down from international play.  How often do we see national under 15 players excelling in a league with 18-year-old players.  That should not really happen, and it is a sign of the declining level of the SSFL.  The players might be better off just concentrating on strength training and practice with the national team.  We brought in a Dutch youth expert, so why not use him.  We can't just assemble teams a few weeks before tournaments.  Look at Haiti.  haven't we learnt that cohesion is an important factor in team success? 

[palos]

Pulling players out of collage is not going to solve T&T problem now, we could probably beat teams like Hati but when it come to teams like the U S A,Mexico,Costa Rica and Canada we licks book for sure these players been playing and training together for about 2 to 3 years they might as well let them finish playing for they school in October, it is to late already the TTFF ,SSFL and the leagues will have to get together and think of a better solution.

1 - I disagree.  The only way that we don't have a chance to compete with those teams is if we fail to prepare as best as we can. 

2 - I know for a fact that's not the case with Canada.  I eh know bout the other 3. 

[saga pinto]

you know what??how hard can it be ?? 22 players to train for the national team- 60 schools in the sssl, at 22 players each. surely Corneal can give the respective coaches a week's notice before he needs the players- or better still a schedule for the next 3 months (1 term) and the schools' coaches can make the selected players available for the time, cos they will have available replacements. why must ew make the situation an all or nothing event??? just co-operate and use the players as necessary...remember these guys will not be required for national duty as regularly as in the sssl. they need to keep their fitness level up. how come Wim and Corneal can object to this? national duty is a good thing, yes, but you don't need them every week, in fact not for weeks at a time- they expect the players to just stay put and do nothing?
mountain out of a molehill...as usual!!

No disrespeck.  But that is precisely why we will not progress.  The National team is SERIOUS BUSINESS.  We need an overhaul of our national setup, which is what these guys tryin to do, IF....we want to compete at the top level of our region and internationally

Our National players playing in the Colleges League will hinder that process. 

I will say again.  Is either we serious or not.  If SSFL so important to us that we need to have our young nationals play in that league....by all means let them play.

But when we go to these WC qualfiers, cyah compete and get we ass THRASHED...doh complain.  Doh ask...how come dem Haitian and dem so good and we team eh able wit dem?

Simple.

Palos you said it earlier,yuh fighting against an ideaology back home,that just don't get it my friend, and it won't take them that long to object to your backing on the stance wim and corneal took regarding the ssfl but there's hope and the majority eventually rules.

I have over the years come to the realization that it's difficult to get everyone on the same page for the sake of progress and this board while it provides us with a forum to discuss topics and healthy banter, is a clear indication of how split down the middle we're on most issues,but I will add these are crucial times in our football history and it might be in our best interest to change the status quo.