Siparia Boys win Gold Cup final trip

SIPARIA BOYS’ RC captured the inaugural Scotiabank CONCACAF NextPlay Cup with a resilient effort in the final against St Dominic’s RC of Penal at the TT Football Association (TTFA) Home of Football training field, Ato Boldon Stadium yesterday afternoon.

It took a 3-2 victory on penalty kicks after both teams battled to a 2-2 draw in regulation time of the seven-a-side affair.

And the members of the team not only received the NextPlay Cup and gold medals but will also enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to witness the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final at Soldier Field in Chicago, United States on July 7.

Captain Vaughn Clement guided his team to the win with two goals during regulation and then he converted his penalty along with teammates Akil Neverson and Elijah La Fleur. St Dominic’s got their goals in regulation from Derrel Garcia (two), while Adam Pierre and Garcia converted their kicks.

Siparia secured their place in the final by way of a 2-1 victory over Maloney Government while St Dominic’s progressed via a 1-0 win over St Agnes AC in their semi-final clashes. Siparia then demonstrated good fight and character to pull off the win after losing the final to St Dominic’s in the National Primary Schools League St Patrick’s district final, also on penalties earlier this year.

Sixteen primary schools advanced to the NextPlay Cup Final Round of Sixteen yesterday after three previous days of competitions which saw 46 primary schools kicked off the competition just over a week ago.

Siparia captain Vaughn Clement said, “This was a great experience for all of us. I would like to thank CONCACAF, Scotiabank and the TTFA for helping put this tournament together all the teams and giving us an opportunity to play so many games.

“It was a really enjoyable tournament and a learning experience for all of us. We are very happy and hopefully this win will make all of our friends, teachers and everyone at Siparia proud,” Clement added.

About the trip to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final next year, he said, “This is a wonderful prize. We are all very excited and overjoyed with it. It will be great to see such a match with the top teams in CONCACAF.”

Attending the final was CONCACAF Development Manager for the Caribbean Andre Waugh, who thanked the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, the TTFA and partners Scotianbank for their commitment and efforts over the duration of the competition. Other officials present were TTFA general secretary Justin Latapy-George, technical director Anton Corneal, Ministry of Education official Mignon King and Patrice Charles, Director of Physical Education and Sport.

The NextPlay Cup is a new invitational youth tournament introduced by the Confederation, playing between November 10 to December 8, across the four territories of CONCACAF member associations, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and TT. This pan-regional Scotiabank competition, held in collaboration with each of the participating member associations, is a new pillar of CONCACAF NextPlay, a comprehensive grassroots development programme that promotes access to football within the region, while leveraging the power of the game to drive social change.

The primary partners of the tournament are the TTFA and the Ministry of the Education which have approved the schools’ participation with the aim of creating a unified competition that promotes the practice of sports and transcends national, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers.