KEEPING IN THE LOOP NOVEMBER 2019

Girdon Connor, Carl Dickson and William Wallace

NEW LEADERSHIP

The CFU fraternity welcomed three news presidents in November. They are, in Anguilla, Girdon Connor, in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Carl Dickson, and, in Trinidad and Tobago, William Wallace.

CFU President Randolph Harris, on behalf of the Executive Committee, congratulated the trio and their teams, wished them success, and assured them of support of the CFU.

Meanwhile, in , the Wayne Forde administration was returned to office unopposed.

Anguilla Executive Committee Girdon Connor, president; Kevin Hawley, vice president; Marslyn Richardson, general secretary.

Guyana Executive Committee Wayne Forde, president; Julian Lovell, first vice-president; Rawlston Adams, second vice-president; Thandi McAllister, third vice-president. Members returned to office: Dion Inniss, Magzene Stewart, Rayan Farias, Carmel Williams; and newly elected member Terrence Mitchell, who replaces Keith O’Jeer.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Executive Committee Carl Dickson, president; Otashie Spring, first vice-president; Wayne Grant, second vice-president; Dwight Roberts, third vice-president; Devron Poyer, general secretary. The president will appoint two members and election for four others is on December 7

TTFA Executive Committee William Wallace, president; vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Wallace and Joseph Sam Phillip.

TTFA HOME OF FOOTBALL OFFICIALLY OPENED

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Concacaf President were amongst the dignitaries in attendance when the TTFA Home of Football was officially opened on November 19, 2019.

The FIFA president held up the facility as a model for the region and commended the parties involved in the project.

The 72-room facility adjacent to the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva boasts 72 rooms, including double rooms and suites each fully equipped with WI-FI and televisions, as well as a conference room, a cafeteria, medical room and team dining rooms. A secondary building houses two dormitories, a main kitchen, a dining room, changing rooms, a laundry room and additional coaches’ sleeping quarters. There are three full-sized natural grass pitches.

Monies from the FIFA Forward Program funded the project

BFA Referee Manager Mark Forde, Representative of Barbados Secondary Schools’ Football Tricia Forde, Chairman of the BFA Referee’s Committee Barney Callender and student referees

IN BARBADOS, YOUTH REFEREES ARE THE FUTURE

The Barbados Football Association, in conjunction with Concacaf, took steps to fill the void of referees on the island with a three-day training program in early November of over two dozen secondary school students.

The young, newly minted refs are now qualified to officiate matches in the Barbados Schools’ Football Program and NextPlay.

BFA Referee Manager Mark Forde noted the heights to which the youngsters could soar with refereeing and he urged them to take their role seriously. BFA Referee’s Committee Chairman Barney Callender, meanwhile, said the groundbreaking training program is likely to become an annual staple.

EXCO SALUTES TOP PERFORMERS

Curacao, Grenada, , Martinique and all punched their tickets to the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, with Grenada, Jamaica and Suriname earning promotion to League A of the Concacaf Nations League along the way. Meantime, Martinique and Curacao, 2019 Gold Cup contenders, maintained their positions in League A.

The Bahamas, Barbados and Guadeloupe also made commendable strides, advancing to League B of the Concacaf Nations League and will all contest the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Qualifiers set for next year in March and June.

Also contesting the qualifiers by virtue of their placement in the Nations League are Bermuda, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago.

CFU President Randolph Harris, who congratulated teams on behalf of the Executive Committee, said the results augur well for football in the .

“Historically we’ve grown accustomed to having certain regional football powerhouses, and we’ve seen with the Nations League these past two iterations some non-traditional teams meet and exceed the mark given our circumstances, and that is not just exciting, it is encouraging to all of our members,” Harris said.

“We wish the teams the very best as they go on the hunt,” Harris said, adding, “and to the other Member Associations, we recognize that many of them have seen incremental progress, and as board, we encourage them to stay the course and to keep putting in the work.”

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA HOSTS FIRST OF TWO-PHASE UNIVERSITY ID COMBINE

Around 125 young male and female footballers put their best feet forward in a bid to impress Hartpury College and University coaches Christopher Knowles and Marc Richards and Kettering Town FC Coach Steven Kinninburg at a November 25-28, 2019 ID Combine in St. John’s, Antigua.

The initiative is a joint venture between the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) and Generation Next FC. It aims to allow the successful student athletes to parlay their football prowess into scholarships for tertiary education.

The second half of the Combine is in January, at which time coaches from William Penn University in Iowa, Holy Cross Notre Dame College in Indiana, and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas.

CFU Extraordinary Congress delegates and specially invited guests

CFU EXTRAORDINARY CONGRESS ADOPTS NEW STATUES

All 31 Member Associations of the were present for the November 2, 2019 Extraordinary Congress at which revised statutes governing the organization were adopted.

The key changes include modifying the previous objectives to comply with the Charities Act 2013 of Jamaica; adding the laws of the game to comply with the governing body; the introduction of election process guidelines and term limits for Executive Committee Members and members of judicial bodies; the reduction in the number of standing committees and the criteria for appointing a chairman of the Financial Committee.

Concacaf General Secretary Philippe Moggio gave an exhaustive presentation on the rationale that led to the FIFA World Cup 2022 Concacaf Zone Qualifying Format, noting that the amount of games the Member Associations are playing, and against quality opposition, has more than doubled under the present format. In responding to concerns raised from the floor, Moggio said the qualifying format would be revisited for the 2026 World Cup.

In his feature remarks, CFU President Randolph Harris pointed to the CFU as an important institution in the Caribbean, calling it an exemplar of regional cooperation, integration, singleness of purpose and unity.

President Harris urged the Member Association to continue to focus more on football and less on politics. “We in the CFU understand that our pitches and the places from which we operate are sacred, and this should spur us all on to do our best, to be our best, so that our region can be amongst the best and our constituents in all spheres, through our efforts, can rise to levels that are their best,” he said.

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