St Clair students voted top footballers

The award ceremony was staged at Calypso Lounge, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port-of-Spain.

Yorke and Cordner who, coincidentally, began their careers with the St Clair Coaching School under former national coach Bertille St Clair— Cordner is still a part of the institute— will be the TTFF representatives at the FCB Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year 2005 award ceremony, which is scheduled for March 7.

The 34-year-old Yorke returned from a three-and-a-half year hiatus from the national team to don the captain’s armband, and led the squad to a historic qualification to the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Ironically, Yorke was the captain under St Clair when TT featured in its first ever global football tournament— the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championships in Portugal. Cordner, who is half of Yorke’s age (17), is a pint-sized but exciting striker who was a member of the Under-20 women’s team who failed to advance to the 2006 World Under-20 Championships in Russia.

Trinidad and Tobago Under-15 captain Jesse Fullerton and national Under-20 player Patrice Superville were also adjudged as the "Male and Female Youth Players of the Year".

Fullerton is a strongly-built goalkeeper from Queen’s Royal College while Superville is a 14-year-old defender from Real Dimension.

Former Strike Squad defender Brian Williams, who was recently named as the Pro League "Coach of the Year", added the TTFF "Coach of the Year" Trophy to his collection. Williams guided United Petrotrin to the Pro League’s Big Six title late last year.

The "Team of the Year" title went to the Defence Force, who participate in the Northern Football Association, while the Eastern Football Association (EFA) is the "Association of the Year" and the EFA’s secretary Neville Ferguson the "Administrator of the Year".

And the pair of Neal Brizan and Shane De Silva captured the "Male and Female Referees of the Year" respectively.

Awards were also presented to the winners of the 2005 FA Trophy competition.

CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh took the "FA Challenge Trophy" and the prize of $46,500 while Defence Force finished as the runners-up.

Wesley Noreiga of Maraval Youth Academy captured the "Most Valuable Player" prize while W Connection took both the "Fair Play" and "Most Entertaining Team" trophies.

The Defence Force duo of Kerry Jamerson and Cleon John were the "Coach of the Tournament" and "Goalkeeper of the Tournament" while Jabloteh’s striker Jason Marcano was the "Most Promising Player".

And the "Referee Quartet of the Tournament" were Brizan, Michael Ragoonath, Joseph Taylor and Richard Piper.