A league of their own

Significant investment in a new league could transform football on the Caribbean island

- STEVE MENARY

Helping players on small Caribbean islands make a living from football is a perennial problem holding back the game’s development in the region, but Saint Lucia is on the verge of a breakthrough.

The Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA) is developing plans for a new league and offering to put in $500,000 a season, which they want the island’s government to match.

The long-term plan is for two divisions – one of ten teams and a second tier of nine clubs – drawn from the SLFA’s district associations. If an agreement can be reached, a debut season could start between August and November this year and run for eight to nine months.

“One of the challenges for football in a lot of the Caribbean islands is that [when] kids get to a certain age they have to choose between playing football and earning a living,” says Brent Sancho, the former Trinidad & Tobago international, who is working as an advisor to the SLFA.