TTFF News - Hislop excited over home tribute game

Hislop excited over home tribute

Issued by Shaun Fuentes, TTFF Media Officer, October 1, 2007

 

Trinidad and Tobago goal guard Shaka Hislop is patting his gloves with anticipation ahead of returning home to play in next month’s matches between his MLS club Dallas FC and a local Pro League all star team.

 

The two games have been arranged as the first of an annual Challenge Cup and an affair to recognize Hislop for his longstanding contribution to the country’s National Team.

 

Hislop is currently still attached to Dallas FC but will not continue on as a playing member of the team following an agreement with the club to release him.

 

But come next month, the former Newcastle United custodian is looking forward to running out in front of his home fans.

 

“I'm very excited about the tribute game! It will give the local talent an  opportunity to showcase their talent against a strong FC Dallas team,  who have their sights on winning the MLS Cup this season, and a very  talented Brazilian team in Atletico Paranaense,” Hislop told TTFF Media on the weekend.

 

“More worryingly it'll give me the opportunity to put on my boots and  pull on my gloves for one last time.

 

“This challenge cup will be an annual occurrence but somehow, after this  year, I don't think anyone will allow me near a goalpost! So I have to  make the most of it,” Hislop continued with a chuckle.

 

Hislop also gave some more insight into his involvement with the Football Players Association of T&T (FPATT) in his role as President.

 

He explained the recent addition of former T&T captain Dwight Yorke as well as other overseas-based players to the association which he adds will be going at length to establish a steady working relationship with the TTFF.

 

“Dwight's decision to join FPATT is purely because he feels that even

 his voice will be better heard in local football by being a part of the

 organization.  Dwight has never been a part of the court action initiated

 by 16 of his teammates and still doesn't intend to be. As much as

 people are trying to draw parallels between the two groups, which is

 understandable,  FPATT is only concerned with the broader general membership.

 The court case has been initiated independently of FPATT and funded

 independently of FPATT and Dwights understands this,” Hislop stated.

 

 

“We certainly hope to meet with the TTFF sooner rather than later. As always we welcome dialogue  with the TTFF to address the greater need and concerns of the local game.”

 

The ex-West Ham standout didn’t hold back on FPATT’s rate of progress though although he joked about not being quite clear on the status of their name with it already being used by the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago.

 

“At FPATT we're still trying to get our house in order. In that I mean

 we have to finalise our offerings to our members, what we hope to offer

 and what we can realistically at these early stages afford to offer.

 Once we begin to address the concerns of our members we have to be fully

 prepared for the responsibility. It's imperative  that we are fully

 prepared for that even if means us taking a little longer in launching our

 programs. Realistically speaking, we're probably ahead of where most

 would expect us to be at this point in our own development, but there is

 still a lot of work to be done,” he explained.

 

FPATT itself is hoping to secure as many Pro League players possible as members. But Hislop added that signings haven’t been obtained because of the fact that the Players Association business is still green in the local game.

 

“We are currently targeting all of the Pro League clubs and players. Our

 membership numbers probably aren't as high as we would like right now,

 but maybe that is understandable. This is all very new to the local

 players and they are waiting to see exactly what we can offer them. Saying

 that nearly all of the T&T players currently playing abroad have

 signed up, as they fully understand and appreciate the need and function of

 a players' association. It'll give the players a unified voice and the

 opportunity to directly affect their own profession.

 

“As keenly as we follow local football, we have to get our offerings in

 place for the general membership. That really is occupying our

 thoughts, and has been for some time. Every now and then we are prompted in to

 action whenever we've been asked, some of those instance have been

 widely publicized and yet others remained behind closed doors, which is how

 we'd prefer to conduct our business,” Hislop ended.