A national squad of thirty six players is currently in training gearing towards selection on a Trinidad and Tobago Under 16 team to compete at the Caribbean Football Union Under 16 championship in August at a venue to be determined.
That tournament will serve as a qualifying phase for the Concacaf Final Round of qualification for the 2011 FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Mexico.
Between August to December 2009, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation held screening sessions throughout the country and according to Team manager Christopher Gouveia, who was also manager of the T&T Team at the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Cup in South Korea, some 500 plus youngsters have been looked at during the period and that number will increase in the coming weeks.
Another screening session will take place at Plymouth, Tobago from 9am tomorrow (Saturday) for invited players and is also open to other interested players.
Sean Cooper, assistant coach of the previous National Under 17 team, is currently the head coach with Terrence Marcelle serving as his assistant and former national goalkeeper Ross Russell as the goalkeeper coach.
The current 26-man squad is in training three days per week at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
“We have been looking at players at various points throughout the country since last year, areas like Mayaro, Point Fortin, Toco, San Fernando and other areas in South, East, North, Central and Tobago. The TTFF funded the entire program including flights to bring players from Tobago to Trinidad for sessions. We had the highest turnout of players from North and East,” Gouveia told TTFF Media.
“Now we are down to 36 players and that number will change again in coming weeks because more screening will take place. The door remains open to any player both from home and abroad who is eligible and able to make a valuable contribution to the team and the country,” he added.
There are no players from the previous Under 17 team which did not progress out of the final round in Mexico in 2009 in the current squad but some of the notable names in the mix include Pro League youth players Dwayne Muckette, Gavin Samaroo and Kevin Dodds.