Warriors ‘stuff’ available soon

THE TRINIDAD and Tobago Football Federation and the Local Organising Committee 2006 has formed a partnership with Graphix Advantage Limited, a Chaguanas-based company to produce and sell Soca Warriors paraphernalia from January 2006. Chairman of the LOC Jack Warner met with Imam Baksh and Ramesh Ramdhan, representatives of Graphix Advantage on Thursday to finalise the exclusive licence and authorisation agreement. Last month it was announced that Graphix would be producing car sun visors to highlight the success of Leo Beenhakker’s team. But now Graphix has added more items and received the blessings of Warner and the LOC with proceeds going towards the TTFF and Dwight Yorke and his teammates. Baksh was delighted to get the TTFF/LOC’s approval as he revealed the list of items that will be available to the public in a few weeks.

They range from pencil sets to calendars, key chains and key rings, fleet wraps, banners, travel mugs, bandanas and billboard wraps among other items. “This is truly a great opportunity for us to ensure that most if not every household has something relating with the Soca Warriors  by the time the World Cup comes around next June,” Baksh said. “We have agreed to produce a wide selection of items which of course will be available to a cross section of the public and to corporate Trinidad and Tobago”. Baksh can be reached at his office located at 199 Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas, at 671-1248 or 665-8763. Warner, aware that there has been a huge demand for Soca Warriors paraphernalia, expressed his pleasure in the agreement and hopes that the goods reach Germany by the time the team arrives there in the first week of June.

He explained that it could not have been available earlier because of certain arrangements which had to be put in place for the production of official products as he worked to ensure that the players were also involved in final agreement. “We know there has been a huge request for items like shirts, caps, key chains, you name it and we want to assure the people that they will have the opportunity to have the Soca Warriors with  them in some form in the very near future,” Warner said. “You will be able to get all these products not just at Graphix in Chaguanas but also in other well-known public outlets like the KFCs and other sports shops and then of course we know there is also a huge demand for items in other countries so we will ensure they can also be part of this,” Warner added.

Adidas TT shirts will also be available in due course. With that aside, Warner and TTFF president Oliver Camps wished to thank all of TT and fans in other parts of the globe for the tremendous support they extended over the last 12 months. “No one person could imagine how we all feel during this time of the year not only because of the success of qualifying for the first World Cup but also because of the way in which we did it together as a people,” Warner said. “To see how we came together to beat Mexico and then to hold Bahrain and to see how we hugged each other when we beat Bahrain and now to see how we shall rally together again to get ourselves ready for England and Sweden is the best Christmas reward for all of us from Beenhakker to Dwight Yorke to Chris Birchall and Aurtis Whitley  to myself and to everyone else who made this all possible,” he said. “We also hope we made a happy Christmas for our people by getting to Germany,” Warner said.