Twenty five clubs in Trinidad and Tobago received their club licensing certificate for the 2017 season after completing a compliance process in the first year of the TTFA/CONCACAF Club Licensing programme dating back to 2016.
TTFA president David John-Williams promised to introduce the Club Licensing programme into the local game roughly a year ago and on Thursday evening he was proudly congratulating ten TT Pro League clubs and 15 Super League clubs upon receiving their certificates following the opening phase of the programme.
This is among some of the development programmes the TTFA has introduced in recent times including the FIFA Solidarity and Compensation Training Workshop for local clubs, the CONCACAF Goalkeeping Course, Futsal Referees Course and the TTFA/Dutch Instructors and Coaching courses among others.
Moving clubs into the process of falling into line with both FIFA and CONCACAF guidelines has been the objective.
John-Williams said the Club Licensing Programme was introduced to assist all local clubs and while the Pro League and Super League clubs were among the first set to benefit from the programme, others clubs in the six local regional associations will be targeted in 2017.
The advancement of club football through the club licensing programme is directly related to key performance indicators within the areas of infrastructure, sporting, administration, finance, legal and social responsibility.
Among the steps in the programme that local clubs are requested to complete include:
-Submitting the four on-line forms to CONCACAF -Confirming the field of play for home matches
-Confirming the Head Coach for the 1st Team -Confirming General Manager, finance Officer, Marketing Officer,, Media Officer
-Budget for the current season
-Signing the Legal Declaration
-Clubs Control Mechanism/ Ownership Structure
-Club’s Statutes/Constitution FC Santa Rosa president Keith Look Loy said at the presentation ceremony that he felt it was a good step for local clubs and he encouraged others to become compliant.
The following clubs received their club licensing certificate for the season 2017:
TT Pro League – Morvant Caledonia United, Central FC, Club Sando, Defence Force, Mau Pau Stars, Point Fortin Civic Centre, Police FC, St. Ann’s Rangers, San Juan Jabloteh, W Connection FC.
Super League – Barrackpore United, Bethel United, Club Sando FC, Cunupia FC, Defence Force FC, FC Santa Rosa, Guaya United, Marabella Family Crisis Centre, Matura Reunited FC, 1976 Phoenix, Police FC, Queen’s Park Cricket Club, University of Trinidad & Tobago, WASA FC, Youth.