AFTER LEADING W Connection to their fourth Pro League title and first since 2005, coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, has pleaded for more sponsors and corporate investors to take the game forward in Trinidad and Tobago. Fevrier outlined that this a major facet necessary for the league’s running to attract younger players into the sport and away from crime.
“Digicel has sponsored this edition of the Pro League and we are grateful for that but there are cricket competitions that are played one-off or over the course of a couple of weeks, and millions are dispensed in this short space of time to the participants and eventual winners.
Yet the Pro League runs for nearly an entire season, which is close to a year, and the winners receive a couple hundred thousand dollars. More investors should present themselves,” lamented Fevrier. He expressed gratitude for the payments and prizes but admitted it was unfair to see much more money dispensed and pumped into other sports while a dedicated, season-long premier football competition suffers financially.
The former national coach admitted that it was hard for clubs to recoup earnings as it is exorbitant to run and maintain a club for such a long period without experiencing difficulty in recovering investments from the prize money.
“We (local clubs) need more marketing at the helm as it is a technological era and we must get people from home to come to matches. Market the league better and fill the stands. Do not give people an excuse to abscond from matches. Ensure they come out and in this internet age, we can appeal to the masses,” he continued.
He pointed to things such as Carnival, parties, cars, drinks and other consumer products that reap benefits of such marketing and vehemently called upon such methods to be employed to attract football fans.
“This can encourage growth of the game. More fans, means more money and the quality of the league raises with these incentives. The influx of players will rise, and with more youth, it is more quantity for the national team. That is how we can feed and input to the national level,” he professed.
“Millions from sponsors can raise the standard of the league and sponsors will get their mileage in advertisement over the course of the year and not just for a few weeks. It’s mutually beneficial and a win-win to all parties. Such incentive raises professionalism throughout with clubs and fans and it becomes more elite a league. We must reach the international standard that we see on television,” he confessed.
Using Twenty20 cricket as a reference, he also indicated that prizes such as player/coach of the month were accolades that needed to be reinstated. Fevrier confessed that this would lead to healthy jostling in the competition and spur younger players’ aspirations forward. He believes it would propel younger coaches, who may have a propensity to go abroad.
“Stadiums and grounds need to be improved. Referees’ quality and spectators are all part and parcel of the game. We need to uplift fans so they can see they are missing top football,” added the St. Lucian. He referred to areas such as Marabella and Arima where community football thrives and hoped that the Pro League would be getting a welcomed financial injection soon to enhance prosperity of the league. He concluded by voicing that football never left the communities and the grass-roots arenas but that it was the fans who failed to come out to support the league in droves.