Decline in Quality Footballers in Barbados Since Closure of Barbados Defence Force Programme, Says BFA President

Since the demise of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) in 2018, there has been a significant decline in the number of quality footballers being produced on the island.

That is the view of president of the Barbados Football Association (BFA), Randy Harris, who has contended that over the past two decades the BDFSP had been the breeding ground for most of Barbados’ top footballers.

Harris pointed to players such as Gregory Lalu Goodridge, John Nobby Parris and Mario Harte who benefitted from the programme.

The BDFSP, which was funded by Government, was once home to several of the island’s young, promising athletes, particularly cricketers and footballers.

However, Government was unable to continue financing the programme, leading to its closure.

The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), which also supported the BDFSP to the tune of almost $400, 000 annually, also withdrew its funding after it ran into financial difficulties.

And while the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) took the decision to finance its own programme, it only featured soldiers and persons enlisted in the regiment.

The BDF was relegated from the BFA’s Premier League this year after a forgettable season where they managed just four victories in 22 matches and finished 21st out of 22 teams.

In one of their lowest points of the 2023 season, the BDF was unable to field seven players in one of its matches and lost by default.

“The BDFSP was critical to our national selection. Our national selection over the last 25 years or so was made up mostly of BDFSP players,” Harris, who is also the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) told Barbados TODAY.

“Not having the programme has really affected our senior national team in a significant way.”

He revealed that the BFA had embarked on a number of junior programmes, which he hoped would help to raise the standard of football in Barbados by guiding players in the direction of becoming professionals from a young age.

“We have a lot of junior programmes that we are working on and we are hoping that these programmes would produce players who would think professionally, because that is half the problem in our situation,” Harris maintained.

His comments have come following a decision by the BFA and national head coach Orlando da Costa and assistant coach Ricardo Fernandes to part ways.