After 50 years, ups and downs, Jabloteh's youths, leadership inspire hope

FOR San Juan Jabloteh FC, one of the oldest professional clubs in Trinidad and Tobago, success is not merely about winning matches and lifting trophies.

In its 50 years of existence, Jabloteh has won than its fair share of trophies, including four TT Pro League titles, FA trophies, First Citizens Cups, Digicel Pro Bowls, a CFU Club Championship crown and a Toyota Cup.

However, the beautiful game provides an opportunity for Jabloteh, founded in May 1974, to leave a meaningful impact beyond the football field.

Long-standing administrator and club director Phillip Fraser, in a recent interview at the club's headquarters in Santa Cruz, said one of the main aims of Jabloteh was to "serve the community, mainly under-privileged youths of the community."

"They (the club founders) developed a senior team, but at the same time wanted to ensure the youths are taken care of.

"The whole objective is to maintain that connection with the (San Juan) community. We have not lost sight of that objective. I always feel proud of that. That has extended to the East-West corridor, but the objective is there. We still hold strongly to that."

The name Jabloteh is derived from the French word Diablotin, which means devil bird, or oil bird, which is found in the caves at Asa Wright Nature Centre and now on the recently redesigned club crest.

Co-founder of the club Jerry Hospedales told Newsday said he's "thoroughly satisfied" with the growth of the club and never envisaged them challenging at the Caribbean level.

He said the club has always been welcoming to people who have the club's interest at heart.

"We started as an amateur operation. When football went semi-professional in the early 1990s we formed the San Juan Sports and Cultural Organisation in 1995. This was formed by people from San Juan who migrated out of the area and were in business or close to business and could bring their experiences they would have learned."

He said that organisation was used to raise funds and helped brought San Juan to semi-professional and professional football."

Other founders of the club included Peter Rajkumar, Ricardo Hospedales, Vijay Bhaggan, and Prakash Bhaggan.

Jerry Hospedales said, "We emphasised youth football from very early and we had this foundational base of young people always, and this is what we are doing now."

New chairman of the club Nirad Tewarie told Newsday a youth-centric approach is the key to Jabloteh's sustainability and successes. He said the club does not charge a fee for players to train.

"We rely heavily on corporate support. It's been a challenge but we think it's still viable as a means of giving the youths structure and productive things to do. We're the only club in TTPFL this year that will be playing all three age groups in the male Republic Bank tournament," he said.

He said the club was unable to field a female team this year, but promises to rebuild that.

"Apart from Defence Force, I don't think there's a club in TT that has produced more national players through its feeder programme."

At the time of the interview, two Jabloteh teenagers, Derrel Garcia and Lindel Sween, were in the Soca Warriors' provisional squad for friendlies against Jamaica. Both have made coach Dwight Yorke's final squad and are in line to make their national debuts.

Tewarie said, "We consistently run the youth programme and we've always maintained quality coaching at that level. So there's an ability to teach the fundamentals at that level and then improve and enhance skills to be able to compete at higher levels thereafter."

Boasting one of the youngest teams in the TTPFL this season, Jabloteh have their sights on a top-three finish this season and qualification for the Caribbean Club Championships.

After one-third of the 2024/2025 season, Jabloteh are on course to achieve their goal as they were in fifth place in the standings, scoring 22 goals from eight matches, going into the weekend's round of matches.

It's been a remarkable start to the season for a team that did not even compete in professional football last year.

Fraser told Newsday it was a painful experience to have to pull out from the TTPFL last season, which coincided with their 50th anniversary. But after tears were shed and eyes were dried, a comprehensive plan was put in place, aided by their incoming chairman. "When we started preparing to take part in the 2023/2024 season, I was optimistic some corporate person would have come on board, but just before the season started we had to pull out.

"I was distraught," he said.

Fraser said he made a public plea for help through articles in various newspapers.

His cry was heard and answered by Tewarie, CEO of Amcham, who offered his services.

Still, it was not smooth sailing.

Tewarie said, "There were a few months where we didn't have a senior team and then we took the decision to try and focus on youths." He said it was through a benefactor that they were able to compete in youth tournaments in 2024.

"We were preparing the youths, seeing how we could restructure to get ready."

Tewarie said the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) has come on board as a gold sponsor with the club and they have big plans together, including workshops to offer financial advice to players and their parents.

Psychologist Anthony Watkins has also been brought in to to talk to the players and get them ready for the challenges they will face in football and life.

"It's not just football, we are more concerned about their holistic development. We make sure that eduction and sports go hand in hand for student-athletes."

One of the club directors, Stephen Clarke, who is a teacher at San Juan North Secondary, also does extra lessons with players who are students.

The impact of CL Financial

Fraser said even while the club enjoyed tremendous success in the 2000s, with the corporate backing of CL Financial Group, it never wavered from its original objectives of nurturing young footballers.

However, Fraser said the collapse of the financial conglomerate in 2009, which affected economies around the Caribbean, was a major blow to the club's ambitions and overall programmes.

"At that time we had Clico sponsoring, where we were able to employ (former England player) Terry (Fenwick as coach) and win the national title in 2002, 2003, then we went on to win in 2007, 2008.

"I think why we were able to sustain and be so successful, we really understand what it takes to be successful: a proper diet, proper training and mentally preparing the players, a lot of those things were in place for the holistic development of the players."

With CL Financial in dire straits and unable to fund the club, Jabloteh hit a low point.

"It created a drought in football. In order to run the organisation properly you have to have finance, It showed the government that without that kind of funding we can't really service the youths.

"We were always struggling to survive and get other sponsors on board. Without the sponsors there is no football."

Jerry Hospedales said the support of CL Financial helped tremendously, but there was one negative – it made the club neglect its fund-raising machinery which had served it well previously.

"CL Financial came in the 1990s and helped us by increasing the amount (funding) available. By 2003 we won the Caribbean Cup – that was major. We spent our early years raising money, but when CL Financial came in it made raising money a non-issue.

"When CL Financial collapsed, we began to have difficulty; that skill we had in the early period, we lost that skill and we really went through a difficult time."

He agreed with his fellow directors that Jabloteh's strength at the youth level allowed it to survive the hard times and continue to develop players.

Fraser said Jabloteh won team of the year for five straight years in the Youth Pro League and won the Concacaf under-13 tournament on three of the four times that tournament was held.

Tewarie said the rich history of development is something the club is immensely proud of.

"There is no club in the world that doesnt feel proud to have academy players join their professional programme. You see it in all the top leagues, they celebrate when the are able to graduate a player through their academy to their professional programme.

"We took a decision last year to focus heavily on the under-20s and we won two zonal titles in national competitions. If you look at the squad today, a number of players are from that squad.

"If you focus on your youth programme and you do it well and you treat them right, you are gonna have a strong pipeline into your professional programme."

He said the role of coaches and volunteers of the club cannot be understated.

Asked about using sport to help steer young people away from crime and how it ties into Jabloteh's objectives, Tewarie said, "Yes, all of the studies show greater engagement through sport and community activities can reduce criminal activity in an area, but I don't want that to be misinterpreted to say youths will have a predisposition to crime.

"Yes, there is a group with nothing to do that can be lured, but, I think, in my experience with youths, the vast majority of youths are good people. We just have to find ways to explore their talents, and Jabloteh and other clubs do that."

Fraser said Jerry Hosepdales helped lay the groundwork for the club and continues to be an avid contributor as a director and supporter.

"Jerry Hospedales carried the club for a very long time. He is one of the most passionate people in sport and football. He hasn't lost that.

"At 85 he still attends the senior games and junior games. I remember hearing stories of him with eight people in a car going to games."

More San Juan support needed

Tewarie anticipates better days ahead for the club as its programmes take fruition.

"If we are successful over the next two to three years, we expect people will want to sponsor us, not because they want to be charitable but because they want their brand associated with what we're doing.

"We expect through player development there will be some revenue coming in. There are many things we want to do that we can do. We've made a lot of strides in the last 12 months and a lot of strides in the last 50 years.

"We're on the way to rebuilding the club and working on sustainability. Our vision is not simply a TTPFL team, that is a a part of the journey.

"Look at what we're doing, engage us, support us. There are benefits today and benefits down the road. We say, 'Doh take it easy, but we will do the work."

He believes more engagement from the San Juan business community would go a long way.

"I really think there could be more support given what we do. It doesnt have to be big things, every little bit counts. This is a club that is helping the community."

Fraser said the ground support is there but the lack of a proper home ground is a hindrance.

Tewarie said the club could soon have its own home ground as it is working with the San Juan-Laventille Regional Corporation alongside Caledonia AIA to develop a football ground.

He thanked the corporation for allowing the club to access facilities at the Aranguez savannah to train. He was also full of praise for MP Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.

Tewarie said, "We have big plans for Jabloteh, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep."

Asked to name some of the top players in the club's history, Fraser and Tewarie mentioned names such as Aurtis Whitley, Richard Chinapoo, Miguel Hackett, Collin Smauel, Cyd Gray, Brent Sancho, Nigel Daniel, Marvin Oliver, Cornell Glen and Jason Scotland.

The directors commended Jabloteh's netball team for winning the Courts All Sectors Netball League championship last year. The club is now campaigning in the premiership division. The club has produced a number of national players and even a world-class referee.

"They're a part of the backbone of Jabloteh," Fraser said.