Plans are afoot for the establishment of a semi-professional football league on island, which is set to take off in June.
Sports Minister Kenson Casimir updated reporters on the latest developments in that field, at a media briefing this week.
The sports minister said he looks forward to an allocation of funds towards the further development of sports on the island, with particular focus on football.
He noted that with an injection of capital, steps towards the upgrade of the sport into a ‘semi-professional’ would greatly benefit local players on island. According to Casimir, the “semi-professionalisation” of football will come up for discussion at the next budget debate.
“People are very excited that for the first time in Saint Lucia’s history, footballers will be paid to play football,” declared Casimir.
Recalling his earlier days as a young footballer and having to go through the paces and drills in preparation for competitive matches, he declared:
“In the budget this year, you will hear the prime minister’s pronouncements for the professionalisation of football in Saint Lucia. It is a step in the right direction …and our young people can benefit from knowing you don’t have to be on the block.
“You can come play some football and get some compensation and eventually you will see the physiotherapists and those who want to get involved in videography and the other aspect of sports entertainment could definitely benefit from that commercial activity.”
The minister noted that it is anticipated there will be some challenges along the way in the initial phases. He said a key component of discipline meshed with talent is lacking and will be brought into play.
Casimir is optimistic that these talents can be nurtured, to provide young athletes with a lucrative and accommodating landscape that is effective.
While the lack of professional referees on island poses a problem, nonetheless, he says “the Saint Lucia Football Association [SLFA] through its Licensing programme …they’ve trained over 100 D License coaches that are available in Saint Lucia, right now. They have also trained a cadre of C License coaches …and the semi-professionalisation of football, actually will further help to get B License coaches and even A License coaches (from Saint Lucia) that could be on an international level.”
Casimir says that though in the initial stages, the organisers may be fraught with challenges and glitches, however “I am very confident that the semi- pro league will be something that as time goes by, people will gravitate to more and more.”
He said the further upgrade of coaches and physiotherapists “opens the door for anyone who wants to get involved in sports and you have a talent and a desire to really come to the fore, right now.”
Casimir anticipates much growth and excitement to be generated around the popularity of the sport with the pronouncements to be revealed during the presentation on the Estimates of Expenditure.
President of the Saint Lucia Football Association [SLFA] Lyndon Cooper told VOICE SPORTS that he is quite pleased with development of the semi-pro league thus far, which will initially include 19 district league teams participating in the tournament.
While acknowledging the authorities endorsement of the commercial league, he said: “The government is fully onboard and supportive of the SLFA in terms of executing this venture …but we hope and pray that we could get this semi- professional league officially started by June, this year.”
Explaining the format and concept of this initial competition, he noted: “We are turning them into companies …legal entities.”
Cooper anticipates the participation from corporate sponsors to help boost this project, stating that this could be in the making “when the league (semi-pro) is established …but for now, we are focused on the formation and execution of a proper structure”.
He said the transition from amateur football to a semi-pro league will be carefully monitored and the SLFA is looking to build up on its prior programmes, so that “whatever we have done in the past will filter into it (semi-pro league), because we are going to do more courses, and more development programmes … these are standard operational procedures.”
The SLFA president is cognizant of the support from the higher football authorities, notably FIFA and CONCACAF officials and says this augurs well for the development of the game on island.
Beaming with pride from his recent visit to the FIFA headquarters , where he met with the FIFA president, Cooper stated , “We expressed our interest in establishing the semi-pro league and he thinks that’s one of the routes to go , and Concacaf is still selling the professionalisation of Caribbean football , so that’s supposed to work hand-in-hand.”