DAVID SCARLETT
SOUTHERN football is set to transition into a new administrative era as the general elections for the Southern Football Association executive committee are nigh upon all stakeholders involved.
Members of the southland's governing body will determine the future of football in the zone on April 27 when they march to the polls to cast their vote for this year’s new presidential candidate.
The elections will be contested by two teams – one led by the founder and organiser of the Next Level Consulting Limited (NLCL) Community Cup, Brian Jordan, and the other co-led by Tiger Tanks executives, Denis Latiff and Eddie Dean.
In 2022, both parties hosted youth tournaments which were considered successes by the respective organisers, investors and fans. Jordan spearheaded the NLCL Under-19 Community Cup and is currently managing the Under-15 version of the tournament. On the flip side, Latiff was the mastermind behind the Tiger Tanks Under-20 Invitational Tournament, which was won by Defence Force in June last year.
Nicknamed “Team Transformation”, Jordan declared that his party will be heavily focused on youth football and the improvement of football standards in the South Zone. Using his experience as a professional coach and former footballer, he believes that, if elected, the structure and organisation of the zone’s operations will be drastically improved.
In an interview with Newsday on Tuesday, he expressed that his youth tournaments sparked his desire to pursue the presidential position. “As many may know, the NLCL Under-19 tournament has been a blessing for youth development in the nation since 2019”, he said. “As a result, several stakeholders reached out and asked if there was anything that could be done in a similar nature in the south zone.”
“Grassroots and youth football are parts of a recipe that produced a generation of footballing talents in the zone in previous years. But now, we’ve lost that. We have to go back to producing talent through youth-focused development, and that is why I am running to be the new SFA president.
“We have to look at what has happened since TT qualified for the 2006 World Cup – there has been little to no progress in local football. The entire nation has been in a football stasis and, somehow, we need to find a way to change that.”
Jordan also addressed the lack of maintained grounds in the zone. He said that his team proposed a partnership with the regional corporation to ensure better field conditions and have more venues to facilitate matches. “Clearly, if we don’t have proper grounds, we can’t have proper development”, he claimed. “If we are to expand the opportunities for development – academy football, youth football, senior football, girls’ football and women’s football – we must have more facilities available and well maintained.”
The partnership will also provide employment opportunities as the unified SFA and Regional Corporation will staff ground maintenance crews.
If elected, Team Transformation will further boost the marketability of
