“OUR MOTTO is Discipline, Dedication (and) Success and we believe with a commitment to the first two, the third is inevitable.” It is a philosophy that has served as the driving force for Trincity Nationals women’s football team since its inception. It is one that is routinely enforced within the minds of the players by coach Joel Warrick and is one of the major reasons for the club’s undying resilience.
When one views a Trincity Nationals team on a football field, a few words come to mind – perseverance, strength, confidence, skill and most importantly commitment. They are a team who plays to win. That philosophy is engraved within their DNA which sparks their passion.
Trincity Nationals was formed by Warrick and his wife Sharon.
Warrick, who is the club’s owner and coach, began coaching in 1985 when he entered the teaching service at Arima Boys’ Government School.
He was also a footballer in his younger days, spending most of his career with Tringrove (a community club from Trincity), while he had spells with Tacarigua United in the 1980s and Trincity United in the 1990s. In 1994 he formed his own club Trincity Nationals FC as an extension of Dinsley Trincity Government School.
In 2002 his first daughter Shanelle Warrick suggested that he formed a women’s football team. Shanelle, who was on the Trinidad and Tobago Under-19 team at the time, was instrumental in recruiting many of her national teammates to form their first squad. That was crucial in propelling the team to claim numerous league titles in the coming years.
When asked about how the name of the team originated, Shanelle, the team captain, explained, “It was simply because most of the girls were from Trincity.” She noted,“When we first started playing it was not about winning it was more about having fun.” To date, Trincity Nationals have won every age group tournament at the Eddie Hart League, Curepe League and Carapichaima League. They have won the Republic Cup Girls Division on four occasions, the Carapachaima Girls Competition in 2016 and the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s League Football First Division title that same year where they were unbeaten for the entire season, scoring 86 goals and conceding only once.
The team boasts numerous outstanding players including defenders Natisha John, Crystal Mollineaux and Jaasiel Forde who the coach describes as “three solid young defenders who have a bright future.” Other key players are national youth defender Adeka Spence, midfielder Nia Honore and their leading scorer for their 2017 season Kayla Prince. The team is led by Shanelle and another ex-national player Jonelle Warrick who have both spearheaded the attack over the last 10 years winning MVP and Golden Boot awards along the way.
“They play an important role in the team that is made up of mostly teenagers”, added Joel Warrick who believes that, at present, they have a team that can dominate the Women’s League in the coming years.
“We have had a good season thus far but like other teams, injuries to key players have affected us. We are presently in second position and still have a chance of winning the league if we don’t slip up again, right now we are just trying to keep our momentum and a winning mentality.” This year Trincity Nationals find themselves possibly frozen behind Flow Sports Real Dimensions in the standings, a team that has possibly the greatest depth in the league when it comes to selection of players, with most of their players coming from national team.