Thirteen members of this country’s Senior Women’s Team will depart Port of Spain on Sunday morning at 9:15 am for Houston where they will be joined by eight other members for a ten-day live in training camp leading up to the CONCACAF Final Round of Olympic Qualifying action.
T&T head coach Richard Hood selected 21 players for the squad which will be captained by Maylee Attin-Johnson with defender Arin King as Vice-captain.
Hood described the squad as a balanced one with a combination of experienced individuals and others who will breaking onto the Concacaf stage for the first time such as Kayla Taylor and Jo-Marie Lewis.
“The squad comprises a mixture of experienced and new players to international football,” Hood told TTFA Media.
“We do have a few players carrying minor injuries buy we are confident that everyone will be ready to compete.
“I believe that it is a tremendous boost to the team that we have the opportunity to camp and acclimatize to the conditions in Houston,” he added.
Hood mentioned that despite the absence of Rhea Belgrave and Brianna Ryce who were both ruled out due to College commitments, the T&T team possesses the ammunition to advance in the competition.
“We are missing a few players that we would have liked to have with us including Rhea Belgrave and Brianna Ryce but were unable to secure the necessary time off from college. We believe that we have a realistic chance of attaining success in this tournament. We are very aware that it is going to be an enormous task but God’s willing we shall prevail,” Hood added.
The 21-member squad
The players leaving Port of Spain include: Maylee Attin-Johnson, Kimika Forbes, Sandra Baron, Arin King, Jenelle Cunningham, Anastasia Prescott, Chevonne John, Janine Francois, Naomi Guerra, Tasha St. Louis, Ahkeela Mollon, Kennya Cordner and Jo-Marie Lewis.
Joining the team in Houston will be Shallette Alexander, Karyn Forbes, Liana Hinds, Danielle Blair, Mariah Shade, Kayla Taylor, Victoria Swift and Khadidra Debesette.
During the training camp, T&T has one warm-up game confirmed at this point, to be played against ECNL Club.
T&T will play its opening game of the tournament against Guatemala on February 11th at the BBVA Compass Stadium. T&T will then face Canada on February 14th and Guyana on February 16th. The top two teams in the group will advance to the semi finals with the two finalists moving onto the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Chef to travel with Team
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association President David John-Williams does not intend to sit down and cry over the financial woes he has inherited.
Instead he has found an innovative way to cut costs starting with the National Women’s Team trip to Houston, Texas for the 2016 Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Trinidad & Tobago team will fly to Houston for a full ten-day camp ahead of the tournament during which time will also play two warm up matches.
However instead of incurring high prices for hotel meals the Women Soca Warriors will take along a Chef which would considerably reduce the costs of meals during camp .
Speaking to TTFA Media, John Williams said. ”We have got to make the best of this bad financial situation we inherited.”
“The Sports Company and the Ministry of Sports have done their part with the tickets and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee has chipped in as well. Therefore we must be innovative and think outside the box to cut costs,’ Williams added.
While the measure is primarily aimed at cutting costs, the TTFA President pointed to other advantages of traveling with a Chef.
“We are taking someone with an appreciation for what an athlete must eat and off course there is nothing better tasting that good home cooked T&T food,” he added
Williams hinted that this innovation may become standard especially with the T&T youth teams.
“With the falling oil prices we have got to become creative while operating on tight budgets. We will evaluate how this works and then see the feasibility for the other teams especially in youth football,” Williams stated.
Video: - T&T Senior Women prepare for Olympic Qualifiers