JERRY HOSPEDALES, chariman of CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh Sports Club, has made a call for the strenthening of the T&T Pro League to help the urgent development of local footballers.
Concerning the league, in relation to the national team, Hospedales stated: “World Cup 2006 must not be a one-off experience. We have the resources— both financial and technical— to ensure that qualification in 2010 and beyond is a natural and irreversible progression.” “We have to strengthen our domestic professional league and I wish to appeal to our public companies to increase their intervention in this beautiful game which, as we have seen lately, could be a major catalyst for social cohesion nationwide and, like CL Financial Limited, could produce social return,” he said. Hospedale was high in praise for Jabloteh’s youth teams and particularly coaches Michael Grayson, Gwenwyn Cust, Gordon Husbands, Keith Jeffrey, Alvin Thomas, Nigel Grovesnor, Curtis Richards and manager Azaad Khan.
The Under-11s copped the Northern Football Association (NFA) knockout crown; the Under-13s won the NFA league title and finished second in the knockout; the Under-15s claimed both NFA league and knockout trophies; the Under-16s took the Pro League and both knockout events; while the Under-18s were victorious in the Pro League and one out of two knockout finals. The senior team placed second in the League but lost both the First Citizens Cup and Toyota Classic Cup finals, all to W Connection. But they lifted the Pro Bowl and FA trophies during the recent season. Pertaining to the $20 million investment made by CL Financial Limited chairman Lawrence Duprey in 1996, Hospedales noted: “He (Duprey) understood the relationship between the pursuit of excellence in sport and nation-building as well as youth development.”