East Port of Spain youths dream of making it in Europe

MOST professional footballers would have kicked off their dream of playing in one of the best leagues in the world from humble beginnings in their community or school competitions. For dozens of children in East Port of Spain, the Inter Agency Task Force Heart and Minds Annual Primary Schools Football tournament is helping them start that journey to stardom.

On July 8, three schools competed in the fourth annual tournament, including Nelson Street Boys' RC School, St Barb's Government Primary School and Success Laventille RC School. Four teams competed as Nelson Street RC fielded two teams.

Rain fell throughout the tournament, but it did not affect the enthusiasm of the youngsters.

In the round robin tournament, Nelson Street A team emerged with the title after ending with nine points with a perfect record of three wins from as many matches.

St Barb's Government finished second with four points, Success RC were third with three points and Nelson Street B team took fourth spot with one point.

For Standard Four Nelson Street RC student Shuquan Noel, the aim is to take his ability to the Camp Nou in Barcelona to play alongside his favourite footballer.

"(I like Lamine Yamal) because he is very talented for his age," Noel told Newsday.

Noel disagreed with his teammate Kazim George, who enjoys watching Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who played for multiple top clubs in Europe, including Manchester United.

"Right now, Cristiano getting old and he is losing it and Yamal is just getting better," Noel said.

George, 12, will be attending Belmont Secondary School from September. He has his sights on playing in the Premier League for one of the most decorated teams in history.

"My dream is to play for Man United. I like their team, I am supporting them since I am young."

Giving his reasons for admiring Ronaldo as a footballer, George said, "I like his leadership on the field, the quality he brings to his team and his focus."

For the pair, their dreams may be achievable as the youngsters demonstrated their skills.

Noel was a handful for defenders as he scored five goals during the tournament to finish as the leading scorer.

George also had a strong performance with his attacking ability.

One of the victories for Nelson Street A was a 5-0 win over St Barb's. Noel scored twice in the match, George and Wakeem Benjamin scored one goal each and the other goal was an own goal.

Corporal Emmanuel Nurse, one of the organisers of the tournament, said these tournaments are pivotal in keeping youngsters in positive activity.

"It's all kids from different communities in warring factions in East Port of Spain...we do this because the kids are important, the kids are the future.

"This is where we have to start. This is where we are starting from and we will continue to work with the youths. The TTPS (TT Police Service) is about community. We have done community policing to try to reduce the crime in TT," Nurse said.

More teams were scheduled to participate, but some children were unavailable. One reason is students who will be starting Secondary School in September were registering at their new schools.

"We had to do it today because the kids were looking (forward) to the tournament. We had to put it off twice (before), but this time we had to put it on because you can't fail the kids. We are the officers, they look up to us, so we have to execute."

Corporal Marvin Small, who also helped to referee matches like Nurse, attended the tournament as a safeguarding officer. "My role and function today is to observe, educate coaches and managers – all persons who are involved with children under the age of 18...this is a strong mandate from Fifa," Small said.