Trinidad and Tobago duo Joevin Jones and Shahdon Winchester will join American Major League Soccer champions Colorado Rapids on their preseason training camp at Arsenal Football club in England after being invited for trials by the American Club.
W Connection club President David John Williams said 17-year-old St Lucian player Zaine Pierre will also join San Jose Earthquakes on trial and will accompany their team at a training camp at Tottenham Hotspur.
Williams thanked the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation for stepping in to assist Jones in obtaining his US visa after he was denied last week.
The TTFF submitted documents supporting Jones’ tenure as a National Team player at the Senior, Under 23 and Under 20 level and he was granted his visa on Monday morning. Jones, Winchester and Pierre will travel to the US on Wednesday.
“Joevin was turned down last week and we got the TTFF to assist and he was granted his visa on Monday morning. We will be getting them out the US as early as Wednesday to begin the trials with the two clubs,” Williams told TTFF Media.
“It’s great for these youngsters to get the opportunity, especially the two that are going to Colorado because they are the defending MLS champions so it’s something special for them being afforded the opportunity,” he added. The trio will spend the entire preseason campaign with the respective clubs.
Jones is eager to grab the overseas opportunity.
“I’ve been working hard trying to develop my game and I want to play at a higher level. It was disappointing to get knocked out of the Digicel Cup and not qualify for the Gold Cup but I will continue to work hard and try to do my best with the opportunities coming through,” Jones said.
Pierre meantime was brought to W Connection by Stuart Charles Fevrier and is tipped as a star for the future by Williams and Fevrier.
The 17-year-old was on trial and trained with Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City and Liverpool between August and December last year.
“W Connection is trying to keep up with the business of football and we are continuing our efforts to export the talent in T&T to the leagues outside.
We see this as a way of our players benefitting from the exposure and of course for players who can now go on to represent the national team in the best possible manner on the international stage.
Regarding Zane, he’s a great talent and was on trials with a series of top English clubs last year. The club also had to turn down an invitation from FC Porto earlier this month because we had already agreed to send him to San Jose,” Williams added.a
Both Winchester and Jones have made their debuts for the T&T Senior Team and are part of the current T&T Under 20 team preparing for the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers in Guatemala in April towards the 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup.