The National Under 20 Men’s National Team will face off with a Point Fortin All Stars outfit captained by Hughtun Hector at Mahaica Oval, Point Fortin on Saturday in a two-match fund raising initiative for the families of Cedros who suffered major losses in the recent coastal landslides disaster which left eight families homeless.
Following initial discussions between former National Team midfielder Reynold Carrington, Councillor for Newlands/ Mahaica, Point Fortin and Under 20 head coach Russell Latapy, the initiative was seen as fitting and will also include a Latapy Eleven versus a Carrington Eleven at Mahaica.
The U-20s encounter will kick off at 5pm followed by the Latapy versus Carrington eleven from 7pm.
Admission will be $20 with all proceeds going towards the families.
Carrington made an appeal for all who are interested in contributing to the worthy cause.
“It was an idea that sprung to mind because I grew up playing a lot of my football in Cedros, at the time for a team called Jah Lions from Bamboo Village and currently we have a couple members on the national youth team from Cedros. We felt we needed to find a way to contribute to helping ease the pain they are going through at the moment,” Carrington told TTFA Media.
“And we are happy that the TTFA and Russell with the Under 20 Teamhave agreed to come on board. We have eight families that are homeless now and while they are being relocated through the help of HDC, there is still a lot of loss that was suffered in terms of household items and other basic items. I am therefore leaving an invitation to anyone who wants to contribute on the day by attending the game and also bringing items. We can also put them directly in touch with the families,” the former player said.
Latapy and TTFA Technical Director Anton Corneal endorsed the initiative.
“It’s just a way of football giving something back in the short term. These families from Cedros have gone through a traumatic time recently. It’s fantastic for us. We are going down there to play a team of fantastic players so yes straightaway we jumped at the opportunity to help out in whatever way we can. We will also take this opportunity to ask the fans to come out and look at the games. It’s not an entrance fee but it’s a donation of $20 at the gate that goes towards the families in need. It’s great to be part of an occasion like this,” Latapy said.
“It’s also a good opportunity for our team to get a decent practice match in as part of our overall preparations,” Latapy added.
Corneal added: “I think that’s it’s a huge taking to just show that we are also part of problems in Trinidad and Tobago. What happened in Cedros affects us also. It could have been one of those players or one of our coaches. They are doing to raise funds. It may not be enough but we are doing our part and i hope other sporting activities or organisations that will do the same. This is part of us being a progressive society helping each other.”
Some of the players expected to line up for the Carrington XI include Anthony Rougier, Anthony Sherwood, Wesley Webb,Sherwin Julien, Floyd Lawrence, Russell Munroe, Keyeno Thomas, Kelvin Modeste and Nicholason Thomas among others while for the Latapy XI, the likes of Dennis Lawrence, Stern John, Marvin Andrews, Clyde Leon, Earl Jean and Latapy will lace up their boots.
The Under 20 team will come up against a Point Fortin XI captained by Hector and including Nathaniel Garcia, Jabari Mitchell, Marcus Joseph, Justin Sadoo and Akini Adams among others, all players hailing from the areas of Point Fortin and Cedros. The T&T U-20 Team is preparing for CONCACAF Under 20 World Cup qualification in November.
Originally published on ttfootball.org