Earlier this week, three-time Pro League champs Central FC’s owner Brent Sancho lamented the fact that his club were yet to receive the majority of their 2014-2015 winnings as well as their entire $1 million guaranteed sum after their victorious 2015-2016 campaign.

He also noted that he was unsure when Central FC will receive their earnings for the 2016- 2017 season.

Chairman of the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) Michael Phillips, in an interview on Friday, admitted, “the prize monies comes from the Ministry of Sport. That’s the sponsorship of the League.” He added, “we assist with the support of the clubs. In addition to what the Sports Company would have given to the teams, the League itself would have received $3 million from the Ministry of Sport.

That would go to prize monies, (administration) and staff for the Pro League.” The 2016-2017 season will officially end on February 19 while the 2017 season is set to begin either in April or May. There have been struggles for the participating clubs (excluding Police and Defence Force) with regards to their monthly subventions ($50,000/club) from SPORTT.

Phillips pointed out, “we assist the Pro League clubs for as long as possible. We have been in discussions with them in trying to assist in subsidising in other ways and trying to make them self-sufficient.

However there seems to be differing in opinions within the Pro League itself in terms of how to be able to do that.” The former national cyclist and TT Cycling Federation president added, “they have their own internal discussions in how to be able to move forward. There is always going to be some level of support and assistance to the Pro League, whether it is just via facilities or other services provided as is for all other sporting bodies/ organisations that seek to put on sporting activities and so on.

“Not all sporting organisations are subsidised to the point of salaries being paid. The Pro League is separate and apart from the assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

It is treated as a totally different line item. We are trying our best to see how best we can assist.” About the lack of subventions lately, Phillips said, “where we have acted as facilitators, the financial viability and the responsibility of taking it into that direction lies with the owners, and the League itself. The State would have gone way beyond what was the original agreement (of giving the League three years to become self-sufficient).

“What we try to do is to continue to be facilitators at whatever level that is possible.”

Noah Powder and Joshua Leach were the men on target for TT with goals in the ninth and 23rd minutes respectively.

TT will play their final match of the tour today against Cardoso FC’s Under-20 team prior to their departure for San Jose, Costa Rica on Wednesday for the CONCACAF Under-20 Men’s Championship.

Coach Brian Williams, referring to Saturday’s victory, said it was a timely confidence- booster for his men. “It was a good win for us coming to the end to what has been a highly intense and extensive training camp for the team here in Cali,” he said. “I was pleased with the way we organised our game from the early stages of the game and we managed to avoid some of the errors we had been taking and we were able to score two goals in the first half.

“It would have been better for us to push on with a couple more goals in the first half but I was satisfied with us being able to prevent the opposition from scoring,” Williams added.

As a result, the Red Force, winners in 2015 and 2016, will face the Jamaica Scorpions in the first semi-final on Wednesday while the Hurricanes will tackle the Barbados Pride on Thursday, with the final set for Saturday – all at the Coolidge Ground.

The Hurricanes, who have been in fine form during this tournament, were unable to make any headway against the penetrative Red Force attack as they were dismissed for 189 in 48.1 overs. Man of the Match Ravi Rampaul had figures of three wickets for 27 runs while fellow fast bowler Shannon Gabriel took 3/41. Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre got 2/31 and veteran leg-spinner Imran Khan had 2/35.

Jermaine Otto topscored with 38 while Jahmar Hamilton had 27 and Nkrumah Bonner 23.

In response, the Red Force were paced by 47 from West Indies limited-overs team opener Evin Lewis while Khan made an unbeaten 38, Jason Mohammed 34 and captain Denesh Ramdin 31 not out as the Red Force reached 190/5 in 34.1 overs.

Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall collected three wickets for the hosts.

The defending champions Parkites decided to bat first after winning the toss. However, they never got their innings going as they were bowled out for 172 in 43.2 overs with present and past TT Red Force left-handed batsmen Darren Bravo, Yannic Cariah and Justin Guillen offering any resistance to the Merry Boys attack.

Bravo made 52 off 68 balls with four boundaries and a six while Cariah contributed 35 (52 balls, three fours) and Guillen 31 (40 balls, three fours). Ex-national all-rounder Aneil Kanhai got three wickets for 26 runs for the visitors while Amir Khan had 3/38 and left-arm spinner Ricky Jaipaul 2/21.

Merry Boys struggled in their run chase but they reached 173/8 in 37.2 overs with Aaron Alfred hitting 39 (44 balls, seven fours), Mario Belcon 36 (52 balls, two fours and a six) and Ranga Lachana 21. Marlon Barclay was the main destroyer for the Parkites with 4/27.

Central Sports hammered Tableland Sports by 134 runs in a match reduced to 40-overs-perside, due to inclement weather, at the Invaders Ground in Felicity.

Jahron Alfred lashed 110 while veteran Shazam Babwah had 52 and Alex Antoine 42 as Central Sports amassed 319/8 in their allotted overs.

Tableland were never in the hunt as they were bowled out for 185 in 33.3 overs with Rakesh Maharaj taking 3/19, Kissoondath Magram 3/30 and Stephen Shadick 2/26.

PowerGen cruised to a six-wicket victory over Alescon Comets at Pierre Road, Charlieville.

Comets, who chose to bat after winning the toss, were restricted to 155 in 49.1 overs with leftarm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh and off-spinner Ansil Bhaggan returning identical figures of 3/23, while Vedesh Sookhai had 2/38. Bryan Charles and K Singh each notched 33 for the hosts.

Sookhai returned with the bat to score an unbeaten 63 (122 deliveries, three fours and two sixes) while Ewart Nicholson chipped in with a breezy 39 (37 deliveries, five sixes) as Power- Gen responded with 158/4 with 10.4 overs remaining. Emile Rajah took 2/36 for Comets.

And, at Wilson Road in Penal, hosts First Citizens Clarke Road registered a narrow three-wicket win over Victoria Sports.

The visitors chose to bat after winning the toss, a decision they would later regret as they were bundled out for 148 in 46.3 overs. Former Windward Islands batsman Keddy Lesporis topscored with 65 (95 balls, seven fours) while Marcelle Jones made 22 and Savion Lara 20. Kerwyn Sirju got 3/22 for Clarke Road while ex-Red Force skipper Yannick Ottley had 2/17 and Ahkeel Mollon 2/21.

Veteran Gregory Mahabir made a painstaking 55 off 102 balls with three fours while Kerry Holness had 20 as Clarke Road responded with 151/7 in 47.4 overs. Ex-Windwards and WI left-arm spinner Garey Mathurin and former TT leg-spinner Sanjiv Gooljar each claimed 2/22 for Victoria.

Both matches will be contested at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

In an interview on the TT Football Association (TT FA) Twitter page, Lawrence, the ex-national defender, noted, “I’m going to have access to the players from February 20.

We’re going to start (training) on February 20.

I’m going to try and select the squad, hopefully, within the next couple days.

“I’ve spent the time communicating, not only with the staff members but with some of the players (locally and foreign- based) just to introduce myself and get them to understand the way I want to work and how I’d like things to happen,” he added.

Referring to his backroom staff, which he announced via a TT FA media release on Saturday, the 42-year-old said, “since I’ve been here, I’ve been taking the time to assess everything, assess the people that are involved in (TT ) football, both locally and abroad.

“I’ve come up with a staff that I think can help us (to) achieve the things that I want us to achieve,” he continued.

“I think I’ve put together a very ambitious, innovative and hard-working staff and I’ve got a lot of trust in the people that I’ve selected.

I know them very well. I’ve worked with them in the past and I’m quite confident and happy that I’ve finally put together a staff that I think would help us to achieve our goals.”

The extensive Caribbean cast was revealed at a press conference hosted by the popular band of brothers at the Kaiso Blues Cafe on Woodford St in Newtown, Port-of-Spain last week.

At the event, lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller revealed that it was a dream come true to share the stage with acts he had grown up listening to and was still inspired by today.

“We grew up listening to everything – all different types of music,” he said, “but we liked rock a lot and as budding musicians we aspired to have our own band, so when I heard these acts from Barbados come in singing so sweetly like rock stars, it gave me inspiration to think about soca and calypso in another kind of way. To this day, we’re all still inspired by their legacy and we wanted to celebrate it this year as part of our mission through music.” In keeping with the celebration of Bajan talent and influence, Daryl “Farmer Nappy” Henry and The Red Boyz band will be the opening act for the concert, which will also feature appearances by reigning Soca Monarch Aaron “Voice” St Louis; multiple Road March and Soca Monarch producer, Kernal Roberts; former Chandileer and Atlantik vocalist turned mas band leader, Ronnie McIntosh; the granddaughter of soca music creator, Ras Shorty I, Nailah Blackman; and 2017 party starters, MX Prime and Ultimate Rejects.

Dieffenthaller also explained that the event was designed specifically “to showcase the band’s versatility and preference for musical diversity.

“We always aspired to be different and from our humble beginnings we made sure to release music that defied expectations and definitions and above all else music that made us happy to create and to perform and share with others.

After a few years on the Carnival circuit, we started getting frustrated because we realised that on most Carnival stages we couldn’t perform all our songs, so we created Tuesday on the Rocks as a place where we could do whatever we wanted but still represent in the Carnival space.” Dieffenthaller and his “brothers”, Hans, Jon, Riad Boochoon, Mario Callender and Ricardo Rameshwar performed an acoustic set of their latest releases at the launch, following official addresses by: Question Mark Entertainment CEO, Simon Baptiste; Digicel’s senior sponsorship officer, Christopher Edmond and Kees.

Rupee who was at the launch said it was an honour to perform at at the concert alongside his friends and family. He said: “Every time I come to Trinidad, I am always blessed with so much love and respect. I’ve watched the growth and development of Kes The Band over the years and I salute them for making their own way and making their own space in Carnival.

It’s an honour for me to be a part of their experience and to perform at Tuesday on the Rocks alongside my brothers and sisters from Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and the Caribbean region.”

As feters entered the venue they were greeted by a large sign that read: SAINTS , then as they made their way to the circumference of the area there was a wide variety of food from which to choose.

From very early, long lines of people were in front of the Chaud Restaurant, Boomerang Caterers, Berment Caterers and JM Grill stations, while others found their choice of morsels at the stations of More Vino Restaurant and Rasam’s with authentic Indian dishes.

Patrons also had their fill of mini-rotis, lamb sliders, corn soup, geera pork, doubles, jerk wings, Melo’s chicken rings, juicy Jamaican patties and fajitas.

After that it was time for the live entertainment beginning with Kes The Band, featuring Kees Dieffenthaller.

The band opened with Incredible and People and immediately had the crowd front stage jumping. The band continued with Fallin, Love ah de Music, Look for Dat, Summer Girl and Million before he was joined by Nailah Blackman, the 19-year-old granddaughter of the late calypsonian Ras Shorty I, for “Workout”. The crowd loved the synergy on stage and cheered loudly at the end of the performance.

Kes the Band then went into a Where Yuh From and a Tuesday on the Rock segment, followed by some of their past hits including Wotless.

Kernal Roberts, son of the late grandmaster the Lord Kitchener, then joined Kes for Shake before the band closed with its 2017 road march offering Ramp Up.

DJs Nuphoric and Private Ryan were largely responsible for keeping up the tempo throughout the fete, but had to give way to the Ultimate Rejects with MX Prime who unleashed a string of past hits ending with their mega hit, Full Extreme.

Machel Montano fans welcomed him on stage with a big ovation.

He didn’t disappoint them. Montano delivered a number of his past and present hits, leaving the crowd wet with sweat at the end of his performance. Patrons thereafter took advantage of the Sober Zone before leaving the fete, once again very pleased with the event.

The behind the bridge venue was well lit and organised for three steel orchestras from the area as well as Single Pan Champs.

Bp Renegades, Massy Trinidad All Stars and Desperadoes were joined by Newtown Playboys to provide the residents with a beautiful selection of pan music. The audience showed its appreciation with loud applause.

Adults and students will relate to the exciting stories that TED writers tell. English teachers will appreciate the structure of the stories and how they can serve as models for writing.

Here are some of my favourite TED books: The Terrorist’s Son by Zak Ebrahim – It will take a very special book to ever knock this TED book off the top of my list of TED Books. Ebrahim’s story of how he came to grips with the fact his father was a terrorist responsible for assassinating a Jewish rabbi and the first bombing of the World Trade Centre will appeal to even the most reluctant reader.

The Boiling River by Andres Ruzo – Part science and part mystery, Ruzo, a geoscientist from Peru, investigates a boiling river in the Amazon. Using scientific evidence, Ruzo creates a compelling explanation for why this river exists. Every science student should read this book.

The Art of Stillness Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer – This lesson in meditation by a travel writer presents a way to find the meaning of life by experiencing stillness rather than plunging into action. Iyer argues that our reflections on travelling experiences are what make a trip meaningful.

How We’ll Live on Mars by Stephen L Petranek – Part science and part speculation, this fascinating book presents some of the steps that are being taken to start a colony on Mars. Readers will learn that it is not only Nasa, the American space company. Individuals who head major companies – like Jeff Bezos of amazon.com are exploring the possibilities of going to Mars.

Why We Work by Barry Schwartz – We all work for a paycheck, right? Not so says Schwartz. He argues that work gives us a certain feeling of fulfilment – hopefully. He looks at just how work places can create a feeling of comfort and happiness.

The Mathematics of Love: Patterns, Proofs, and the Search for the Ultimate Equation by Hannah Fry – Love does not seem very mathematical, but the author argues that there are measurable patterns of love. She looks at the chances of finding love and statistics about how long it will last. She even explores online dating and all the measurables in that experience. This is a light-hearted, new guide to exploring love, and a fun way to connect mathematics to a theme that fascinates all teens.

Payoff: The Hidden Logic that Shapes Our Motivations by Dan Ariely – Motivation can make the difference between success and failure, but motivation is also the basis of happiness. The author looks at the meaning of motivation: what it is and how it shapes our lives without being overly ponderous.

When Strangers Meet: How People You Don’t Know Can Transform You by Kio Stark – This quirky, fun and yet profound book documents the author’s own journey through uncharted territory as the author reveals some thoughts and feelings she discovered while talking to strangers. We’ve all been taught about the pitfalls of speaking to strangers. This is the flip side of that coin.

TED books are the perfect read for people on the go who want to read, but don’t have much time.

They also resonate with teenagers in your life who are reluctant readers.

Leo was socialised and moulded from birth by the centripetal forces of the growing confluence of port and plantation, road and railway, agricultural and industrial, the douglarisation of Indian/African and rural secondary Naparima College reinforced by urban-centric QRC.

He was born in famous and notorious Caroni Village. Within a radius of 20 metres from his birthplace were the residences of the late Wilfred D Best, well known author of the Students Companion, the late Bhadase Sagan Maraj, Pundit Krishna, business magnate and icon Ayoub Mohammed, current ENT specialist Dr Esau Mohammed, current MP for Couva North Rudy Indarsingh, and Justice Lennox Deyalsingh.

Also located in this birth zone were the Caroni Railway Station, the village post office, the only route from Port-of Spain to San Fernando, the Southern Main Road and the Trinidad Government Railway station, as well as the Caroni Police Station and Caroni Canadian Mission School, to say nothing of the thriving Caroni River plastering sand business that generated enormous wealth to the villagers until the mid-1950s.

Those were the pristine glorious days when the village brought up and assumed responsibility for the growth of the child, especially this child called Leo who symbolised, synchronised and crystallised the close harmonious relations conducted by the two main ethnic groups of Caroni Village — a mixed nodal, railway-driven community and transportation hub for both sugar and oil.

Leo was a devoted PNM aficionado and faithful chela (follower) of the late former prime minister Dr Eric Williams beginning in 1956.

He maintained his deep communal roots and links in Caroni till his demise. He was the catalyst for many decades behind the successful functioning of the village council and community centre that were officially initiated by Williams, whom Leo brought to Caroni for the second time — the first being in 1956 when the Doc held 15- minute railway station spot political meetings from Port-of-Spain to Siparia.

The Caroni of Leo Seebaran was equally industrial, transportational and agricultural with the Caroni rum distillery, sugar factory and four sugar estates providing the employment attractions for, inter alia, skilled personnel drawn from the port of which the parents of Wilfred D Best were prime examples.

Leo was a community activist who bridged the growing political divide between the races in Caroni post-1962. He assisted many Caroni families to break out from the stranglehold of sugar and rice and to gain education and lucrative employment in urban/suburban entities.

He did not deprive Caroni of the necessary indigenous community leadership qualities by relocating elsewhere as his contemporaries would have done in their legitimate quest to achieve social and economic mobility.

I had proposed that the new Washington Roundabout of the modernised Southern Main Road just opposite his former residence be named the Seebaran Roundabout as a fitting tribute to this devoted exemplar from Caroni.

He volunteered to serve as village scribe, mentor and pro bono adviser on education and career paths development to the growing young literate population descendants of the indentures who lived in the Caroni barracks.

STEPHEN KANGAL Caroni