Fishing Pond Football League returns after five years

THE Fishing Pond Football League kicks off this weekend, after a five-year hiatus, with 14 teams vying for $27,000 in cash prizes.

The league had stopped due to covid19 in 2020 and it took a huge blow in November 2021 when its organiser Prakash Ramkissoon, who managed the league for over 30 years, died.

However, the excitement is building in the rural community as another resident, Churchill Sookoo, has stepped up to get the ball rolling.

Action kicks off on Saturday with Coca against Manzanilla in the opener at 4pm while Take That and Cool It meet Dream Team at 7pm.

The first prize is $15,000, the runner-up will get $8,000, and third place will take home $4,000.

It will be the first edition of the Fishing Pond Football League to be played under floodlights, which Ramkissoon had fiercely advocated for, but never got to see himself.

Sookoo thanked his predecessor for the "excellent" work he had done.

"The work that Prak did, to me, yuh can't put a (value) to it," he said.

"That was a man dedicated to the sport. He had true passion for the game. How he fight to get the place where it was – it wasn't financial motivated, it was community motivated."

Sookoo said youths in the community need more options and he hopes the football can provide that. He recalled playing in the competition barefooted when the goalposts were two pieces of bamboo.

"We had no choice – poverty."

He said the league will bring some positivity back in the area and give youths something to look forward to.

He said people in the area have been pitching in with the preparation.

He said some of them are declining payment for their services, saying they are just eager to see the league return.

Sookoo said he has dipped into his own pocket primarily to finance the league.

He thanked Electric Wizards for donating the third prize, Sangre Grande Regional Corporation for contributing trophies, and Cellular Planet for its support.