Regrettably, the historic significance of tomorrow’s women’s football match between Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador may slip by many Trinbagonians unnoticed.
A young shop attendant admitted unashamedly to me last week that she was not aware there was a FIFA women’s World Cup, “because of my studies at UWI”.
Neither was she aware that our Soca Princesses are scheduled to play their final game right here at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for a place in the World Cup finals in Canada.
“That match is of historic importance to T&T; it’s part of the journey of November 1989,” a member of The Strike Squad of 1989 told me last week.
“It is one of those moments in time. It is not just 11 girls playing a game, but as the scoreboard says, ‘T&T’ … no, all 1.3 million of us in … ‘T&T versus Ecuador’. Moments in this game will stay with everyone of us in the years to come.”
I was touched by his summation because, like him, I recognise that success tomorrow could be that hoped-for bright spot which could change the current mood of this young nation.
As we spoke my head went to another place. I was recalling the words of the great CLR James: “There is no nation, unless the citizens feel the need for self-defence.”
And that is what is required of every citizen tomorrow: first, positive expressions of our national character, then all forms of collective action demonstrating that we are all bound together in support of our Soca Princesses.
In other words, a transformation of our differences into an emotional, national hand-holding experience that says, “We are all Trinbagonians in defence of our nation”.
We all need that bright spot right now. This fractured society is in urgent need of any experience that will help us remember, acknowledge and celebrate those positives in our national character.
Let’s admit it. Recent events across the national landscape have been bleak, unpleasant, and often ugly. In brief, falling oil prices, in spite of the Finance Minister’s assurances, could mean government projects, now under construction, may have no future, and worse, those falling prices could mean reductions in social welfare expenditure; Petrotrin and T&TEC, because of mismanagement, now stand near bankruptcy; Manzanilla is a disaster area; brutal murders in Brasso Seco and Tobago; the Prime Minister’s indifference to Dr Wayne Kublalsingh’s hunger strike; questions surrounding the Curepe interchange – all these form part of a perception of government corruption, incompetence, gimmickry, and arrogance.
Among the population, such events have created pockets of cynicism, feelings of powerlessness, suspicion, distrust, and alienation which seem to be taking us down a sad path towards an anomic state.
So what the Soca Princesses need tomorrow is the whole of Trinidad and Tobago sending them positive vibes throughout the day. They do not need mere spectators in the stadium – but supporters to transform its atmosphere, backing them throughout the full 90 minutes, or as the promotion says, supporters who re-create themselves into the 12th Soca Princess on Team T&T.
My Strike Squad friend said: “Many do not realise that in 1989 the crowd was not alive, or with us. Under pressure, there was an eerie silence, no vocal support. In boxing, a boxer, under pressure, gets inspiration from the persons in his corner, and that’s what the girls need tomorrow – T&T’s full support, throughout the match.”
The moment demands the supportive intensity we demonstrated in the past. We were behind our Olympic, and then world-record breaking track team in the 1960s; we gave national support to Hasely Crawford in 1976; we were behind our netball girls in 1979, urging them on to become joint world champions; we continue to salute Brian Lara for his many cricketing achievements; and we still talk about our male football team’s experiences in Bahrain and Germany in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
The Strike Squad member said: “In Latin America, supporters give a distinctive hum throughout the match. Playing in Mexico, the T&T team felt challenged, at every moment, by a stadium of 100,000 Mexican supporters. That’s the support our girls need.”
CLR, I am sure, would have said that, just like cricket, our Soca Princesses’ football match tomorrow may go beyond the boundary…throughout T&T.