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Ainsley Grazette at the Youth Transformation & Rehabilitation Centre at Golden Grove Road, Arouca on January 2. - Photos by Faith AyoungBEHIND the iron gates at the Youth Transformation and Rehabilitation Centre (YTC) in Arouca, many inmates have forgotten how to dream. Hardened by the premature exposure to violence and angry at the world, officers sometimes find it difficult to achieve their mandate of helping youths turn their lives around.
But behind those walls, one YTC resident is showing that it is still possible to dream.
Despite seven years at YTC, Ainsley Grazette, 25, is dreaming of achieving goals on and off the field. The Carenage native created history on October 25 by becoming the first YTC resident to play professional football while representing Prisons FC in the TT Premier Football League tier one.
In his debut game at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, against Caledonia AIA, Grazette showed he was no token selection as he scored Prisons' first goal of the 2025/2026 season, in the ninth minute, in an enthralling 3-2 victory. Currently awaiting trial for murder, Grazette is imploring all young people and even those he is locked up with, to never give up on their passion and not to ever be ashamed to be a good person.
Newsday interviewed Grazette on January 2 at YTC, minutes before his team held its final training session ahead of this weekend's TTPFL fixtures. Grazette sat quietly among the other players as Newsday was introduced to the team, oozing a quiet sense of self-confidence of someone who knew he belonged in that dressing room.
In the serenity of an adjacent room where the interview was held, Grazette seemed slightly nervous.
However, as football was the topic of discussion, his eyes soon lit up as he spoke passionately about his love for the game.
Growing up in Carenage, he said his family's name has been synonymous with sport. His mother played football at a high level, and two of his relatives were top national tennis players as well.
"It was in my genes – my father, my mum, my grandfather. My mother always encouraged me and said I have a special gift."
He recalled playing football regularly with his friends, even kicking Chubby bottles when a football was unavailable. His mother sought to get him to take the sport seriously and showed him pictures of his family playing for various teams.
"I watched it and I was amazed because knowing that my mother is a footballer, I said, 'My mother could be a footballer, I could be a footballer too.'"
He said this ignited something in him and he trained with the Defence Force under former national coach Angus Eve and also with Police FC.
However, he said everything was cut short due to "a little misunderstanding in the community – gang violence and thing."
He said his incarceration showed him what was important in life and how important it is to have a positive circle of friends.
"When I get incarcerated, I sit down and study, I say, 'What's the next move here, boy?' Because when I study it, I see that friends, same friends yuh consider...The same friends that put me through this, me ain't seeing them."
He said his belief in himself never wavered despite his predicament.
"And I start to reflect on all that and I say, wait nah, the sky is the limit, no matter where you is, the sky is the limit. You could still live to see your dream come true."
Ricardo John with Ainsley Grazette, right, at Youth Transformation & Rehabilitation Centre football field at Golden Grove Road, Arouca on January 2.
Grazette gravitated to rugby and was soon incorporated into an under-19 team. He said he had an opportunity to be part of a team travelling to the Bahamas for a tournament but covid19 hit and shelved that.
He said the opportunity to play sport was something he always relished as it gave him a sense of freedom.
"When I see the nice thing; I'm going outside, I'm playing in savannah. I'm not feeling like I'm under no kind of lockdown and things like that. So I always say, you know what you want and you're going to get it – and I always want goodness."
He said during his incarceration, his father died, and then his uncle, whom he had considered as a dad, also passed away. His grandparents also died, leaving him with a sense of despair and loneliness as the people who once rooted for him began to disappear.
He said he decided to "step it up" for his number-one supporter, his mother, who always stayed by him.
He credited his mentor at YTC, Sean Reyes, who is in charge of the gym programme there, for integrating him with the football team and offering him guidance on life.
"I start to maintain the football field, cut the grass, mark the field. After that, I end up a ball boy. Then coach see me on the side juggling the ball and say, 'Ah seeing something.'
"From that, I start up with the under-20 team, then the Super League team, from that I start to score free kicks. I was always a starter, aggressive, attacking player."
Dream debut for Prisons
His meteoric rise through the football ranks with the prison team saw him welcomed to its TTPFL tier one team, becoming the first YTC resident on the team.
Asked whether he felt nervous leading up to his professional debut, Grazette said he was mostly sad as he had not yet got approval to play outside the confines for this team.
"To be honest with you, I was very excited. But before that, I was down, but I wasn't giving up training or anything. I keep talking to God about it: 'You know my heart, you know my mind, you know what I want.' I go down on my knees and pray."
He said the morning of Prisons FC's first game, officers asked him to take a sweat but he declined as he felt he should have been playing at a much higher level that day. A few hours later, his prayers were answered.
He said scoring that day was a surreal experience.
"I was very excited. That motivated me. I tell myself, I could make it."
Ainsley Grazette at the Youth Transformation & Rehabilitation Centre football field at Golden Grove Road, Arouca on January 2.
He said he was moved to tears seeing fans in the stadium and hearing people cheering for him.
"Seeing young fellas who I grow up with in Mucurapo East Secondary, them calling me out, 'Number 15!'
"I couldn't make them out, they grow up big. Two and three of them coming up to me after, hugging me up. It bring tears to my eyes.
"The best thing that can save youths from negativity is sports. Find something, whatever they good with, away from that criminal vibe."
The roller-coaster experience continued for Grazette as a dispute over subventions in November saw Prisons temporarily withdraw from the TTPFL.
"I start to cry, boy. As I get to play professional football this happen."
However, the issue was quickly resolved and Prisons were back on the field competing.
Sports can save youths
He said his journey has not been easy but he still tries to set an example for others.
"People trying to push bad vibes against meh, trying to make me breakdown. Some of them want to change but they feel when they change they go look bad.
"But it is really bettering yourself, saving yourself from dying, from ending up in this predicament. I don't have no shame about goodness, about being me, being good. I know my purpose. Football is my life."
Asked if his achievement is a testament to other inmates about what they can achieve, Grazette said, "That enlightens plenty of them. Every time I go out for training, it have young boys 12 and 13 saying, 'Grazette, ask coach for meh to come out and play.' Some of them who rebellious, because they're young, them seeing me on TV, YouTube, they asking how it feeling to be out there. They always questioning me.
"I also start motivating them and telling them how I started, that it doesn't happen within a night or a day, You have to build and grow from that. The people who you surround yourself with, that energy, that is the foundation; people who you talking to, your mentors.
"Yuh have to have a clean mindset, stable mindset. Don't let anything hold yuh back from your goals. Ask a question."
He credited his turnaround to God, Prisons club president Jude Gordon, acting Prisons Commissioner Carlos Corraspe and Reyes for helping him along his journey.
"Believe in yourself, whatever it is: fixing an engine; playing cricket; doing electrical, you could do it, male and female. Don't ever say, 'I cannot.' If somebody could save me and I could save someone else, we go reach somewhere. It must happen."
Youths need mentorship
In an interview with Newsday about the programmes at YTC, Reyes said each resident is assessed upon entry and a care plan is devised based on their interests, needs and personality.
He said this plan is critical to helping the residents achieve their potential.
Asked about Grazette being over 18 and still at YTC, he said, based on the behaviour of a resident, a recommendation would be made to keep an individual at the facility to continue their rehabilitation.
"These things take time to develop and change a boy's mindset. Two years might not be enough. If you just throw them in the big jail, all the work might just go down the drain."
Asked how he would respond to someone who says someone charged with a capital offence should not be allowed freedom to play sport on the outside, Reyes was firm in his conviction.
"Some people don't understand the rehabilitative process. You can't want to rehabilitate somebody and have them locked down 24/7. That is one of the worst things you could do because it builds a lot of hatred.
"What we do at YTC is provide as many opportunities as possible for these young men and them. We just try to keep them involved in a lot of sports: cricket, football, boxing, basketball. You have to be involved in school, you have trades available and all these things.
"We also have a culture department where these boys are going to learn to play pan and drum and all these things. We just try to channel the energy into type of things to provide a different avenue for these fellas. So having these fellas locked up 24/7, that mindset would only make them more bad. That mindset is not in alignment with the vision for YTC."
He said there are many YTC success stories with residents passing six and seven subjects and even some boys coming in illiterate but being able to read and write when they leave.
Asked what football could do for youths, Reyes believes sport can only go so far.
"Playing football is a way out, but we have to go a little deeper than that. With regards to society, we need to mentor these youths a little more. One of the bigger issues we have in society and YTC is gang affiliation. A lot of these boys see these gangs as a way out. What we need to do is hold on to these youths a little longer."
Prisons coach Dexter Cyrus described Grazette as "a very disciplined young man" and said it was not difficult to integrate him into the team. He said Grazette's scoring on debut lifted everyone.
Prisons entered the weekend fourth in the TTPFL standings and are eyeing a top-three finish to qualify for Caribbean and even Concacaf football.
Grazette is eager to play his role in achieving this goal by not only scoring goals but also by doing whatever he is tasked with to help the team.
"Whatever the coach asks me to do, I'm doing it. I committed. This year is our year," he said.
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