They must step forward first

No doubt, the trigger for this is the million dollar rewards granted to the Soca Warriors for their efforts in taking the team into the World Cup finals after over three decades of trials and national heartache.

What could be raising the ire of the Maha Sabha and others is the lack of Indians and Hindus in particular on the team. No one, not even the Maha Sabha can claim racial discrimination and group domination in the composition of the national football team.

It was picked by a European foreigner who selected the Warriors from those who stepped forward. Indo-Trinidadians by and large, with the exception of cricket take a step back from most sports after secondary school. Few become professional sports persons.

This pattern is repeated in the police service and the armed forces. In this year’s army recruitment, photos of the applicants (those who stepped forward) were published for public comment on their character and suitability for employment. Of the 180 applicants 160 were Afro-Trinidadians; 15 Indo-Trinidadians applied for army jobs and this says a lot.

The Maha Sabha’s illogic is that since Indo-Trinidadians are roughly 50 percent of the population then by extrapolation they should have a 50 percent share share of everything including what is voluntary. In this vein they are securing the services of an Indian professional football player who plays in France to train Hindus to play football.

No doubt the plan is to have at least a squad of proficient Hindu players ready by the next World Cup. If they are not selected, the wrath of the Maha Sabha will then be focused on the TTFA and perhaps even FIFA.

There is a better picture emerging; the Soca Warriors have so energised the interest in football that Indians and Hindus will come forward even without the Maha Sabha agenda. In Couva and elsewhere, little league football clubs dominated by Indo-Trinidadian boys and girls have sprung up and can be seen undergoing training on weekends.

This trend must continue and if it does will herald increased participation in football and sports by Indo-Trinidadians.

It is from here the next Bobby Sookram will arise not from mischievous ethno-political agendas