TTFA expands grassroots push, SSFL women's premiership set for 2026–27

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is set to expand its youth development programme in 2026 to reach every primary school student in the country.

TTFA president Kieron Edwards made this announcement during a December 28 interview with TTFA Media. He views this nationwide rollout of grassroots programmes as part of the association’s long-term vision for football in TT.

“We are going into every single primary school and ensuring that they have those contact hours with the football, get them the more tactical awareness around the game, as well as just getting them to love the game,” Edwards said.

The TTFA will target boys and girls from age six and up.

The programme, which targets boys and girls from age six and up, will be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education.

It comes as a result of earlier collaborations with FIFA and Concacaf through initiatives such as Generation Amazing and NEXT. The TTFA has also provided equipment, training, and coach education to primary schools in preparation for the 2026 rollout.

“We will touch every single primary school student. We have the high-performance programme, which really targets between 12 to 17 in that age group, but we're going a bit further,” Edwards said.

The programme is geared towards building a pipeline for the country’s national teams and creating opportunities for football to be seen as a viable career path. Edwards said the TTFA has also strengthened its engagement with secondary schools and local leagues.

“Supporting grassroots football was important in 2025. We supported all the local leagues in terms of the zonal football. We supported all zonal football to the tune of $50,000. That would help them in terms of their operations. We would have engaged with the secondary school football as well,” he said.

Edwards reassured that the planned Secondary Schools Football League premiership division for women is expected to launch in the 2026–2027 season.

“I think that's important in terms of our women development and having not just an Intercol for the girls, but ensuring that there's a premier division similar to the boys. I think that would be an exciting one.”

The TTFA is also planning to host monthly football festivals in aimed at rekindling interest in the sport, encouraging children to return to playgrounds and physical activity.

Youth national teams are already part of the development pathway, with the Under-17 boys and girls, as well as the Under-20 boys, preparing for World Cup qualifying matches in early 2026.

The U17 boys will host teams including Mexico, St. Maarten and Barbados, while the U20boys will play in Costa Rica, and also participate in a regional series at home.

Edwards expressed confidence in the future of TT football and was pleased with the progress made in 2025.

“2025 was one that we would have built a foundation and now we are really going to push to make the pathway in terms of how do kids look at football as a career and where do they start. I think it was a very good year when you look back at it.”