TTFF News - Wim says T&T can take much of out Dutch experience

Photo shows members of T&T's national under 17 team in downtown Amsterdam on Thursday during their evening off from the training pitch.

Wim says T&T can take much of out Dutch experience

Issued by Shaun Fuentes in Arnhem, August 10, 2007

Trinidad and Tobago National Team head coach Wim Rijsbergen is of the feeling that the country’s football system stands to benefit from the experiences like the current one the Under 17 footballers are undergoing at the Papendal Hotel and Conference training complex in Arnhem, Holland.

Apart from being highly enthusiastic about showing off what his native country has to offer in terms of amenities, Rijsbergen is hopeful that T&T can follow suit in its preparation in preparation of national teams not just for football but several other sporting disciplines.

He made these assertions on the eve of T&T’s National Under 17 team training game against Dutch professional unit FC Umniworld from 11am (5am T&T Time) on Saturday at Papendal.

“We’ve been talking about creating an environment in Trinidad and Tobago, like a camp, where national teams can come together to train and we can talk abut it over and over but being here now is a nice impression for our staff and players to se what you really need to develop players in any sport,” Rijsbergen told TTFF Media after the team completed its two-hour training on a one of the pitches at Papendal while Dutch Premiers Division side Vitesse Arnhem and Spanish club Athletico Bilbao trained in adjacent pitches .

“Here in Papendal it is also a centre for different sports and a multi functional complex where you can stay, get treatment and train and of course we hope pretty soon they will have something like this for different sports in Trinidad where football coaches, players and other athletes can benefit.”

Rijsbergen, currently with the T&T U-17 team assisting with its preparations for the FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea, emphasized the need for young aspiring professionals to be exposed to similar training facilities and methods.

“I try to talk about the environment about what it takes and what is needed to become a professional now we are fortunate that these younger kids can experience it and see the likes of Bilbao and a Dutch Pro team use the compound so they can see what it takes to be a real professional and that it take s a lot of work - that’s the good part of them being here. This is what I was going through as a young professional, and it’s good to experience it before we go to Korea. Hopefully it will give our younger boys a little boost and also to realize how hard we have to work to be successful,” Rijsbergen added.

“It’s important and that’s why we keep saying that the sooner we get this into their system it will be better and it sends a message to the rest. Starting as young as possible is the time when you can make the necessary changes. This is our future here. So therefore this should be a pattern for future training camps, not just before world tournaments, and expanded for teams at various levels.”

He also compared it with the facilities at the De Graafschap training centre where T&T played at on Tuesday.

“At that first club it a small one and they still use 300,000 Euros a year just to run their youth development programme. At that facility they have an artificial pitch, two grass pitches, dressing rooms and an area where people can come together. That what you need, The bigger clubs obviously have more to it but we can start somewhere back in Trinidad. You can work there 24- hrs a day if necessary. It doesn’t happen overnight but we can think and act on it before the timing gets tight,” Rijsbergen concluded.

Following a day of double sessions on Friday, one a two-hour session in the morning period, Anton Corneal’s outfit remained in good spirits with no major injury concerns and will now aim to end their Papendal training trip on a high note against the local team before heading off to Cheonan, Korea on Sunday