Football Separation: Travel Issues Force League Restructure

Financial limitations and persistent inter-island travel challenges have compelled the Secondary Schools Football League to revise its Premier Division competition structure for the upcoming season. This year, teams from Trinidad will forgo travel to Tobago. However, Tobago schools will remain integral to the competition. Four teams from the sister isle will compete against each other four times, accumulating 12 matches each. The winners will then join the top three teams from Trinidad in a knockout phase to determine the champions.

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We have to manage our season meticulously, especially since one of the major issues would have been the inter-island travelling between the schools from Trinidad to Tobago/Tobago to Trinidad.

SSFL president Merere Gonzales stated that the new format received approval with a 9-6 vote at an Extra Ordinary General Council Meeting on July 22. He explained that the league must manage its season meticulously, particularly given the significant issue of inter-island travel between Trinidad and Tobago. Last season's competition concluded without a scheduled league match between St Augustine Secondary and Tobago's Signal Hill Secondary in Tobago. The final standings for the bottom placements were only determined earlier this year. Additionally, the Boys National Under-14 and Under-16 finals, along with the Girls Big Five final, were never played.

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In every decision that is arrived at you will have pros and you will have cons.

Gonzales emphasized that this format is exclusively for the current season. Schools that earned promotion to the Premier Division following the Big Five competition, Mucurapo West Secondary, Hillview College, and Tobago's Speyside Secondary, will participate in the 2026 Premier Division. Hillview and Mucurapo West will be among 14 teams playing in Trinidad. Speyside will compete for the single knockout spot available to Tobago teams, alongside Signal Hill, Scarborough Secondary, and Bishop's High School. Tobago schools will play each other four times, totaling 12 games, while Trinidad schools will play each other once.

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attempts had been made.

Gonzales acknowledged that "in every decision that is arrived at you will have pros and you will have cons." When asked about discussions with Caribbean Airlines and the Tobago House of Assembly regarding travel, he confirmed that "attempts had been made" but "we did not get any concrete responses." The THA issued a statement expressing concern over the SSFL's decision and is engaging stakeholders to understand the circumstances and potential effects on Tobago, vowing to resolve the matter in the best interests of secondary school football.

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we did not get any concrete responses from them.