After three consecutive years of participating in the National Super League, during which significant spells were spent as a title contender, Westmoorings-based Westside Superstarz’s financial struggles have ultimately affected it to the very core.
The club’s technical director Nigel Grosvenor speaking yesterday revealed a number of issues which contributed to the withdrawal of the club from this year’s NSL competition.
“No, no, no. We are not disbanded; we are just stagnant at the moment,” Grosvenor said as he explained the club’s inability to raise the $50,000 registration fee as the primary reason for sitting out this year.
“We tried all how to raise the money. When the league was run under All Sport Promotions, they would have given an extention (to pay the registration fee) if need be. We asked the league (now fully administered by the T&T Football Association) for an extention, but they wanted the money right on time.
“They (All Sport) were more sympathetic to certain situations regarding unsponsored teams. They would deal with clubs on a one-on-one basis. We tried a boat cruise and many other ways to raise funds just for the registration, but it didn’t work out.”
However, raising funds for the regular registration fee was not the only major financial concern for the club as it would also be required to seek funding for ground transportation and sometimes accommodation when it played matches in Tobago, as well as food for the players when they were on a long journey.
Participating this year would have been even more difficult given increase to four clubs from Tobago. Grosvenor said during the three years in the league since its promotion from the Northern Football Association in 2011, Westside Superstarz operated without a sponsor. The club also managed to field successful youth teams in national competitions.
Asked why the club struggled to find a corporate partner, Grosvenor said unlike most clubs in the Super League which identify with specific communities, Westside was “broader and more inclusive” and represented many towns and communities in western Trinidad including Bagatelle, Petit Valley, Carenage, Cocorite, St James and others.
This, he said was enough cause for potential sponsors to take notice as it opened an avenue for footballers who may otherwise have been led astray. However, he admitted that it may have worked at the club’s disadvantage. Grosvenor said a change in the club’s name was not being considered as it epitomizes its inclusiveness.
“While some communities were known for their warring with others in surrounding areas, it would not affect the players and the football at Westside. When they came, they put everything aside and they played together. We tried to show this to the potential sponsors. They disappointed us.”
Grosvenor said he personally visited the Sport Company of T&T (SporTT) in quest for financial assistance but the special purpose state enterprise provided only footballs. He said he explored other avenues to attempt to attain state funding but “everything was politics”. Even going through Opposition Leader and Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley could not result in the required assistance. He said he found it strange that some clubs could stand to benefit from state funding but not others.
Another problem for Westside was its inability to retain its top players. Attracting quality players was never an issue for the club. Grosvenor, who is also longstanding head coach at St Anthony’s College, said usually at least six of his best players would leave the club after the start of the NSL season for Pro League clubs once the transfer window opened, following which it would normally and understandably face a dip in form. Westside had nothing to benefit from the transfers as the players were not under contract and were offered salaries by the professional teams.
The result of these issued is for the club to hang up the boots, at least temporarily. Grosvenor was advised that even if it was in a position to return to the league financially, Westside would be required to gain promotion from the NFA, an idea not fancied by the director. Grosvenor said there are intentions by the club to create an academy style system for youth in the area in the future but there are merely ideas for it at the moment.
In concluding, Grosvenor said fans and well wishers of the club should not worry as there will eventually be a return to represent the west in the future.
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