dic.02.2007

Chief Executive Officer of the TT Pro League Dexter Skeene was in full praise of the accomplishment of the national U-17 footballers on their qualification for the FIFA World U-17 Championships in Korea later this year and underscored the importance of the timing of this achievement.

The Young 'Soca Warriors' defeated Caribbean rivals Jamaica 1-0 on Sunday evening in Kingston to book their ticket to Korea, thanks to a 13th minute strike from Jabloteh's Kevin Molino.

"I first want to extend my congratulations to the young national team, on their achievement of becoming the 3rd youth team from Trinidad and Tobago to be part of a Youth World Cup."

"It is imperative that we understand the significance of this particular qualification, having just qualified for the senior world cup, we have now reinforced our position in world football by qualifying for a youth world cup, one year after. This sends a signal to the rest of the world that Trinidad and Tobago is a serious football nation and an upcoming force in world football with proper programmes being implemented and that we are here to stay."

He continued, "In addition to that, this is also good for the youth a further opportunity to go to the world stage and measure themselves against the best and determine where we are at presently, its great for our youth, its great for the country and we need to continue working hard and putting things in place, building on this world cup qualification, so that we can continually qualify for the future world cups at all levels."

The League's CEO went on to pay special mention to the local professional clubs and their role in the success of the national youth teams.

"Many of the young players are attached to Pro League clubs and this augurs well for the youth teams in the Pro League, and we want to congratulate those clubs who had players represented on this team. We in the Pro League recognize the need for proper youth programmes, it proves what we have been doing all along is bearing fruit and we will continue to expand on the Youth league, and we will continue to work with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation to ensure we have proper developmental programmes in place and aim to produce players capable of playing at the international level," ended Mr. Skeene