Football (soccer) in the Caribbean

With the World cup in Brasil getting closer,we are all getting a bit more excited. this year unfortunatly no Caribbean nation is participating. Remember the times when Trinidad and Jamaica were part of this? Their fans brought extra reaggea and Soca joy

to the stadiums and were a really good addition to the atmosphere.
But how big is football in the Caribbean? Having many backgrounds, many Caribbean Islands tend to prefer other sports such as Baseball and Cricket. Yet football most of the times still is in the top 3 of national sports practiced.
Lets check out first the FIFA ranking, to see where we are at.

Based on June 8 2014; http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html:

Trinidad leads us with a 71st spot, followed by Haiti at the 73rd spot.
The other Caribbean nations:

Jamaica 81

Cuba 95

Aruba 120

soccer fans/supporters from Trinidad and Tobago (Soca Warriors) and Sweden in front of Worldcup-stadium (FIFA WC 2006) in Dortmund, Germany before the match T&T vs. Sweden began. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dominican Rep. 131

St. Vincent & the Grenadines 132

St. Lucia 137

Grenada 144

Antigua & Barbuda 151

Puerto Rico 158

St. Kitts & Nevis 160

Montserrat 166

Dominica 169

Barbados 170

Curacao 182

Bahamas 186

USVI 195

Cayman Islands 196

BVI 198

Anguilla 206

Turks & Caicos 207

The route to a World Cup tournament for any Caribbean Nation is by competing in the CONCACAF region. 

So how about the local national championships? It takes a bit of searching to find out about local leagues and championships. But there is a lot of activity ion the Caribbean regarding football. I did some research and the results will give you an insight. Lets take a look into the top 5 FIFA ranking nations' competitions and most successful clubs.

Trinidad

The local competition is called the TT Pro League. It consists of 9 teams:

W Connection; Central FC; Defence Force; Point Fortin Civic FC; North East Stars FC; Caledonia AIA; Police FC; San Juan Jabloteh; St. Anne's Rangers

W Connection is the most successful club with 5 titles in the leagues' 15 years of existence  



Haiti

The local competition is called League Haitien. It consists of 14 teams:
Aigle Noir AC; America FC; AS Mirebalais; AS Petit-Goave; Baltimore SC; Cavaly AS; Don Bosco FC; FICA; RC Haitien; Tempete FC; Valencia FC; Victory SC
RC Haitien is the most successful club with 11 titles in the leagues' 77 years of existence.

Jamaica

The local competition is called National Premier League. it consists of 12 teams:

Arnett Gardens FC; August Town FC; Boys' Town FC; Cavalier FC; Harbour View FC; Humble Lions FC; Montego Bay United FC; Portmore United FC; Rivoli United FC; Sporting Central Academy; Tivoli Gardens FC; Waterouse FC

There are 3 clubs sharing the most succeses wielding 5 cups each in the leagues' 41 years of existence: Portmore United, Santos FC and Tivoli Gardens

Cuba

FC Villa Clara 

The local competition is called Campeonato Nacional de Futbol de Cuba. It consists of 16 teams split in four groups of 4 teams each. The group winners will enter a round robin competition where the winners enter the semi finals followed by the final.
FC Villa Clara is the most successful with 13 championships in the leagues' 102 years of existence. The current champions are Ciego de Avila.

Aruba
The local competition is called Division Honor. It consists of 10 teams:
SV Britannia; SV Bubali; SV Caiquetio; SV Caravel; SV Dakota; SV Deportivo Nacional; SV Estrella; SV La Fama; SV RCA; 
SV Riverplate
SV Dakota is the most successful club having won 15 titles in the leagues' 54 years of existence. For current updates go to www.avbaruba.aw

So whenever you visit the Caribbean, try and check out a local game. You will not only be treated by football, but chances are that you will be able to experience gastronomy, music and dance at one of these games. It is also a great way to meet locals and dip into culture.

By the way, my club is Deportivo Nacional from Aruba.