Season of sports spectaculars

TODAY’s Legends football match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium kicks off a period of epic sports spectacles, both at home and abroad, which will act as tests of not only our athletes but also local infrastructure and enthusiasm.

Iconic Brazilian footballers from the winning 2002 World Cup squad, such as Rivaldo, Kaká, Cafu and Edmílson – all so legendary they continue to be referred to by just these names – will take to the field.

They will square off against international Trinidad and Tobago icons like Dwight Yorke, Russell Latapy, Kenwyne Jones, Carlos Edwards, Kevin Molino and more.

Up to earlier this week, several stands were sold out.

“We have a generation of players who have done well and are at a stage where we still love football and want to play,” said Mr Latapy, 55, last month.

“The aim is to push that feel-good factor about football in the country. We think we can also set a good example for young players.”

There’s a lot that can come out of an initiative like this, undertaken by Mr Latapy’s foundation and i95.5FM.

It could enter the history books as something of a fin de siècle moment, serving as a reminder of the close of one era and the birth of a new.

But the point is also to show how one’s passion for something is not limited by age or career status.

If the players are showing it’s possible to put old things to new use, the location of the event at the stadium – which is to be shuttered for more renovation thereafter – is a reminder that constant renewal is a key part of the management of our ageing sporting facilities, facilities that should not be discarded casually for new buildings but which can be usefully upgraded.

In the coming weeks, attention will turn to another spectacle: the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, for which 2,400 seats have been added to the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

That event, too, will be a test of that revamped facility, whose history is well-documented, as well as the mood of the country.

It will be another moment when all eyes will be on crime and security, especially after last December’s international embarrassment which saw a visiting cricket delegation sequestered in a hotel because of gun violence.

As many as ten teams could feature in warm-up matches here, including the same English team, as well as Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies.

And then, when the dust settles on all these events, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, will begin, providing a different kind of test for the red, white and black. Best of luck to all.