Central F.C. made another addition to their 2014/5 squad today when they signed 19 year old Nathaniel Garcia. Nathaniel, who’s younger brother, Levi has also joined The Sharks, played a handful of games for T&TEC in 2013, before attending college in the USA.
“Nat has been a target of ours since he played for T&TEC against us in our first season.” said Sancho. “He first caught our attention when he played at Shiva Boys and then for Siparia Spurs. He has progressed into a very exciting and intelligent young player.”
Sancho also confirmed that Central have agreed a deal that will see one of their players transferred to ex coach, Terry Fenwick’s new club in Belgium, CS Visé. “The deal between the clubs has been agreed, but the player won’t sign personal terms until next week, so we won’t be announcing his name just yet.
However, I can confirm that it is one of the 5 Central F.C. players on the national team.” said Sancho.
Operations Director, Kevin Harrison said “CS Visé has underachieved for a number of years, but with new owners and a coach of Terry’s ability, the club will begin to achieve success. Terry is obviously keen to recruit players from Central F.C.
We believe that our player’s abilities will stand out in the Belgian Second Division. Not only will this help Terry to win games, but we also expect to see the players move onwards and upwards rapidly.” Sancho said that Central F.C. will be forming a formal partnership with CS Visé. “We simply see CS Visé as a direct route to Europe for our players.” said Sancho.
“We recognise that we cannot ask for huge transfer fees because the players are unknown quantities in Europe. We concentrate first on the player receiving a decent deal. We build in sell on fees so that we can benefit further down the line.” Harrison added that the deals will also benefit Fenwick’s club. “Once Terry begins to move these players to Germany, Holland, France etc, his club will generate decent transfer fees. And after 2 years in Europe, the U.K. market opens up for the players.
So it’s a great partnership that will see CS Visé, Central and the player all benefit.” Meanwhile, the Central F.C. staff has moved focus to their women’s team, the “Lady Sharks”, who will begin their campaign in the WoLF Premier League on Saturday, after gaining promotion in their first season. This week, the team welcomed the arrival of central defenders, Shannon Walisch and Candice Shields, from the United States.
“Candice and Shannon both play football for Tampa University in Florida” said Sancho. “As part of our year round women’s programme “Respect Yourself, Protect Yourself, we will be holding a two week all female football camp. The concept is to expose young female footballers to the possibilities that arise from football such as U.S. scholarships.
Candice and Shannon will be able to give the girls firsthand knowledge of football scholarships in U.S.A., as well as help the Lady Sharks to win a few games!” Harrison continued, “Also, as we have recently seen, there are great opportunities in football administration for women. Each day at the camp we will invite prominent women from the fields of politics, entertainment, business and sport to speak to the girls.
There will also be basic personal safety advice as well as information on healthy eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.” Harrison said that Central F.C. is grateful to TTFA who are approaching CONCACAF and FIFA to provide some support. “There are no guarantees at this point, as we understand that budgets have already been allocated elsewhere, but we thank TTFA for going to bat on our behalf.
Bearing gifts or not, TTFA are a welcome partner in our all female camp and we are grateful that they recognise the possibilities of this project .” Central F.C. expect to see former Head Coach Terry Fenwick return to Trinidad next week to attend the club’s end of season awards event. “We’re intending to send Terry off in style!” said Sancho. “I’m sure it will be an emotional evening.”