Twenty-one football administrators have been appointed to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) safeguarding department on March 29.
Each member received their letters of appointment from association president Kieron Edwards and TTFA's safeguarding, play care and wellbeing manager Gary St Rose at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
Safeguarding is the action taken to ensure that all vulnerable persons are safe from harm when involved in football. It means proactively doing everything possible to minimise risk and prevent poor practices and abuse.
Seven of these appointees would be charged with the responsibility for enforcing the policy throughout the six regions in TT.
Additionally, during his address, Edwards was pleased to announce that the TTFA was selected by FIFA as one of their case studies for safeguarding best practices.
As a result, St Rose will spend three months in Zurich, Switzerland, later this year, and be part of all the safeguarding heads around the world, who are excelling in this field.
'We'd also be given a grant by FIFA to educate the public even more, and pushing on, in terms of what we do with regards to safeguarding,' Edwards said during his address to those appointed.
In February 2024, the TTFA launched its revised Safeguarding Framework and Policy and was hailed as, 'one of the most elaborative and complete safeguarding framework,' by FIFA Head of Safeguarding and Child Protection Marie-Laure Lemineur.
Since its implementation, TTFA has put the framework to good use, having suspended the Next Level Consulting Limited (NLCL) Community Cup for three months (November 2024 to February 2025) because one of the coaches of a team who participated in a previous NLCL tournament, was allegedly involved in the abuse of a player.
Their most recent action came in mid-March 2025, when St Rose banned national men's Under-17 coach Shawn Cooper from coaching minors 'until further notice.' Age group restrictions were also placed on Cooper's safeguarding license.
With the new safeguarding department set up, the TTFA is also planning an award ceremony for academies and coaches who implement best practice.
The TTFA's social media campaign on safeguarding will be rolled out within the coming days to educate the public on breaches and the policies designed to protect players and staff.
'We saw it fit as the FA to go on a social media campaign to educate the public on what are the policies, what are the responsibilities of coaches and some of the rules around safeguarding,' Edwards said.
'We are pushing to reach more people to understand safeguarding, whether it's either suspension or we use it as a tool to explain to persons of the line they don't cross when it comes to safeguarding. '
'Persons think when we talk about abuse it's only sexual or physical but there's mental abuse as well. The mental side of things is the biggest aspect when it comes to football. Top athletes in the world talk about their struggles with mental health as youths when they're coming t
