Fevrier picks 20-man U-15 team

Fevri­er has been over­see­ing the prepa­ra­tion of this team for the past two years with reg­u­lar ses­sions and train­ing camps. He will now have the op­por­tu­ni­ty to com­pete against in­ter­na­tion­al op­po­si­tion, in­clud­ing Mex­i­co, Venezuela and Pana­ma, for the first time on home soil.

The com­pe­ti­tion will see in­ter­na­tion­al un­der-15 teams on show for the first time since the CFU Youth Cup was held here in 2008.

“It’s a great op­por­tu­ni­ty for the play­ers to play against some qual­i­ty in­ter­na­tion­al teams such as Mex­i­co, Venezuela and Pana­ma. We have been play­ing a lot of prac­tice games and then we found our­selves play­ing against teams of high­er age groups, such as the se­nior lev­el, in or­der to in­ten­si­fy what we were do­ing. I be­lieve the boys are fo­cused and ready to give a good show­ing in this com­pe­ti­tion," Fevri­er told Guardian Me­dia.

“This is a de­vel­op­men­tal tour­na­ment, sim­i­lar to what will take place in Flori­da next month and it is im­por­tant that we un­der­stand this and take the nec­es­sary ap­proach. Of course, we are aim­ing to com­pete and to put on a good dis­play of foot­ball.”

Team cap­tain Ja­heim Mar­shall is al­so ea­ger to take the pitch in front of the home fans.

“It is a great ho­n­our for all of us in the team to play in front of the home crowd. We have been work­ing re­al­ly hard for a long time and now we want to put this in­to match­es and demon­strate what we have done in train­ing. I think these games will go a long way in show­ing us what lev­el we are at and pre­pare us for the Con­ca­caf cham­pi­onship.”

Strik­er Ab­dul-Qudoos Hy­po­lite is promis­ing to­tal foot­ball.

“We are ex­cit­ed but at the same time pa­tient be­cause we know what our am­bi­tions are. These teams all have a rich his­to­ry and are strong in the re­gion. For us, it is a great op­por­tu­ni­ty to be able to go out there and show what we are ca­pa­ble of. We’ll take each game se­ri­ous­ly and try our best to put on a game of to­tal foot­ball and try to achieve the best pos­si­ble re­sults on the day,” he said.

T&T faces Pana­ma from 7.15 pm to­mor­row, with Mex­i­co and Venezuela squar­ing off in the first game at 5.15 pm.

Mean­while, the T&T Un­der 17 Girls' team will al­so be in ac­tion. They will take on Pana­ma’s U-17 team Fri­day at the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um and again on Sun­day at Ato Boldon. Pana­ma has been a late re­place­ment for Cu­ra­cao’s U-17 Girls who en­coun­tered chal­lenges in se­cur­ing air trav­el.

T&T U-15s Team

Kanye Lazarus, GK, Po­lice FC

Chris­t­ian Bai­ley, Cale­do­nia AIA

Dawn St Rose,W Con­nec­tion

Jaron Pas­call,Po­lice FC

Tyrik Trot­man, Cen­tral FC

Ja­heim Mar­shall, Po­lice FC

Ab­dul-Qud­doos Hy­po­lite, Po­lice FC

Jesse Mo­lik Khan, W Con­nec­tion

Ja-Shawn Thomas, W Con­nec­tion

Nathaniel James, W Con­nec­tion

Josi­ah Wil­son, W Con­nec­tion

Tris­tan Stafford, Po­lice FC

Kas­sidy David­son, W Con­nec­tion

Jovonn Gomez, Po­lice FC

Dan­taye Gilbert, W Con­nec­tion

Caleb Bor­neo, Colum­bus Crew

Ja­heim Faustin, San Juan Jabloteh

Tris­tan Ed­wards (GK), San­ta Cruz Unit­ed Acad­e­my

Isa­iah Thomp­son, Point Fortin Civic Cen­tre

Jared Ed­mond (GK), Play­ers Evo­lu­tion Acad­e­my

Head Coach – Stu­art Charles Fevri­er

RELATED NEWS

Seven Connection players in T&T U-15 team; ‘Dada’ and Look Loy complain about poaching.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).

Trinidad and Tobago Boys’ National Under-15 Team head coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier has announced his 20-man squad for this week’s TTFA Youth Invitational Tournament.

The Boys National Under-15s, who are captained by Trendsetter Hawks midfielder Jaheim Marshall, will play Panama, Venezuela and Mexico on 17, 19 and 21 July respectively while the Women’s National Under-17 Team play Panama on 19 and 21 July. Fixtures on Wednesday and Sunday are at the Ato Boldon Stadium while the Friday matches are at the Hasely Crawford Stadium venue.

“It’s a great opportunity for the players to play against some quality international teams such as Mexico, Venezuela and Panama,” Fevrier told the TTFA Media. “We have been playing a lot of practice games and then we found ourselves having to play against teams of higher age groups and senior level in order to intensify what we were doing. I believe the boys are focused and ready to give a good showing in this competition.

“This is a developmental tournament similar to what will take place [at the Concacaf Under-15 Championship] in Florida next month and it is important that we understand this and take the necessary approach. Of course we are aiming to compete and to put on a good display of football.”

But the TTFA Invitational marks a bittersweet moment for some youth coaches whose players won national selection with their clubs, only to become W Connection property before the end of the process.

Fevrier is the W Connection technical director while Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams is the club owner.

Trendsetter Hawks founder and head Anthony ‘Dada’ Wickham said he was stunned to look at Fevrier’s 20-man roster and see his star attacker, Josiah Wilson, listed as a Connection player.

“When I saw the team, I called [David] John-Williams one time and asked him if Josiah Wilson was transferred to W Connection,” said Wickham, “and how could that have happened since I never signed any transfer form. He said he will have to talk to his daughter Renee [John-Williams] to find out what is going on but I am very suspicious about this whole thing.

“I think they are poaching players.”

Wickham said when his players joined the National Under-15 Team, which is funded by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) under its Elite Programme, they were initially stopped from training with the club.

Then, they were asked to transfer to a Youth Pro League team last season—to supposedly play at a higher level. Marshall and Wilson transferred to Morvant Caledonia AIA, although both returned to Hawks this year.

But Wickham mused about whether the aim was always to separate clubs from the players they nurtured.

“Look they start a National Under-13 programme again this year and already they are telling the players that they cannot be involved in any activity with their clubs,” Wickham told Wired868. “Why? Is it because if you don’t play any club football for two years, you don’t even need a transfer and you can just walk and play for any other club?

“I am hearing that those clubs are in the parents’ ears promising them all kinds of things.”

Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) president and FC Santa Rosa founder Keith Look Loy also lost a bright young talent, Ja-Shawn Thomas, to Connection.

Ironically, Look Loy petitioned for the 14-year-old Thomas to get a second chance with the national youth team after he was initially cut from the burgeoning team at the East Zone stage. Earlier this year, though, the TTFA Board member said Renee John-Williams brought him a transfer request for the lanky Holy Cross College forward, which he signed. Thomas was six years old when he joined Santa Rosa.

Look Loy’s consent to the transfer did not mean he was any less hurt about the loss than ‘Dada’.

“They are using this Elite programme to identify talent and then they keep them away from the clubs that they come from,” said Look Loy. “They are separating the boys from their clubs, cherry picking them, and pressuring them to join Pro League clubs in general and W Connection in particular, so they can get into the national team.”

Look Loy, a former Fifa developmental officer, suggested the TTFA would be better off trying to improve the teams that discover gifted players, rather than isolate two dozen talented boys from the youth football circuit.

“A good match is worth five training sessions, so they should be playing after three training sessions,” said Look Loy. “Instead, they are training all the time and they tell players not to train or play anywhere else because their level will drop. I am fine with the boys training with the national programme but then allow them to play with their clubs.

“And if you have concerns about that club then go and talk to them and offer to help with their programme and try to influence the way they do things. Go watch them, talk to the coaches and work with them. But the result of this Elite Programme shouldn’t be to deprive clubs of their players.”

Look Loy also expressed misgivings at the selection process for the National Under-15 Team. Although the TTFA was credited for executing a fine scouting job to arrive at the current team in early 2018, he claimed they have operated as a completed squad ever since and have not made it easy for players to break in.

“When you look at that team, you have [12] players from two clubs and none of them won either the Republic Bank or the Youth Pro League Under-15 competitions this year,” said Look Loy. “Logically, if you go to scout at the under-15 competition, you would surely see at least one boy you want to bring in. You mean to tell me that with teams like San Juan Jabloteh, Point Fortin Civic and La Horquetta Rangers dominating repeatedly at those age groups, you can barely find a player from those clubs in the team?!

“At that age, national youth teams should be an open door because anyone can tell you that only about two players at that level go on to make it at senior level. So you have to keep freshening the pool.

“But it seems to be a closed group with this team. If you are in, then you are in; and if you’re out of the group you have to stay out.”