TRINIDAD and Tobago is nowhere near maximising our potential, based on our geographic location and cultural orientation.

The twin-island republic sits atop South America, immediate neighbours to some of the biggest teams in the football world but most of our foreign-based professional players are plying their trade thousands of miles away in the UK, Europe and the United States.

TnT is unique, I would argue, even within our Caribbean civilisation, since no other English-speaking territory offers the same cultural diversity.

But, while we trumpet our Soca Soccer, our football is much closer to the beat of the South and Central Americans than to the style of the Europeans.

Yet, we look north and continue to look north, and that’s not just for football. It’s in every facet of our lives, what we eat, read, see, hear and think.

Last week, I touched on the topic, lamenting our lack of vision for not capitalising on our location and cultural similarity to South America.

Granted, there may be a language barrier, but that can be addressed if decisive action is taken.

Clearly, it is time for us to stop, turn around and have us a long look at what is going on to the South.

To do this, TnT has to adopt Spanish as our second language, and a small part of all the money that is being squandered in the political wasteland should be used to make this a reality.

Thankfully, the Caribbean Communications Network (CCN) has now included a Latin America segment to the TV6 News, and the sports segment regularly shows highlights of the football leagues in Brazil and Argentina.

We, beloved Caribbean islands, are isolated and disadvantaged because of our size, our language and, more importantly, our view of ourselves.

As a tourist destination, the Caribbean can make the frame, and our entertainment industry -- given people with foresight are allowed to cultivate the giant it is and smash traditional barriers -- has the potential to be a real global player.

But in every other dimension, including sport, the Caribbean is on the losing end.

Insignificant!

Individually, the Caribbean will always produce the Powells, Quarries, Crawfords and Boldons in athletics, but as a community, we can’t compete with the Americans and Europeans.

Our great cricketing legacy, which began long before the heroics of Clive Lloyd’s team of the late 70s and 80s, and Viv Richards’ team of the 80s and early 90s, has been completely vandalised in the last decade by the new-age players.

Long before Lloyd used his arsenal of fast bowling, featuring the likes of Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall in the major roles, to rule the cricketing world, West Indian cricketers were charming fans with “Calypso Cricket”.

George Headley, Garfield Sobers, Everton Weekes, Rohan Kanhai, Clyde Walcott, Wes Hall, and the indomitable Sir Frank Worrell were revered by cricket fans all over the world long before Lloyd began world domination.

The West Indies tour of Australia in 1960-61 ended with a parade through the streets of Sydney, where thousands of Australians came out to say farewell to Worrell and his team, although the West Indies lost the series 1-3.

Last year, the West Indies also lost the series 0-3 to Australia, but I don’t think there was more than a handful of Australians at the airport to see that team off.

Because of the dramatic and complete reversal in fortunes, an entire generation of West Indians is growing up without seeing their team win a Test series.

Cricket is a legacy of our colonial past and we must treasure that, but the time has come for TnT to lead the journey south, to move the Caribbean away from the limited imagination of CARICOM, and begin to develop a tangible identity for the entire region as part of Latin America.

Latin America and the Caribbean!

For example, why are we talking about daily flights to London, Miami, and New York for BWIA?

I think the Professional League in Trinidad and Tobago is not making any significant improvement in our football, and our youth football programmes are not working, given recent results from our Under-21, Under-20 and Under-15 teams.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation has to sit with the Ministry of Sports to work out a proper plan for our football development, because we must develop strength in depth at home and not depend on the professional leagues in Europe and the UK to develop our players.

Our coaches and our young players, those who can’t get scholarships to the United States, should be able to get scholarships to Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay and Peru, for example, so they can learn the languages and culture of their football.

We can then start to create a more enduring football legacy that is much closer to home.

There are so many football leagues in South America but we don’t have a player over there. Why?

It is not enough for the government to throw money behind the Soca Warriors, especially when the poor football fans are being taken advantage of so blatantly by this Federation.

Imagine, people have to pay $300 to see the Jumpers and Wavers in a friendly against Peru, not even real football, an international fete match? Isn’t there a law against that?

Has the Minister of Legal Affairs lost his tongue?

I don’t expect to see the game, as the TTFF will have to grant me a media pass.

Sports fans, perhaps I will see you at cricket!