Technical Director of the T&T Football Association, Anton Corneal, says the announcement of the new T&T senior women’s football team coach is expected to be made in two days.
He told Guardian Media Sports that the selection of the head coaching job and staff for the T&T Women’s Warriors attracted an overwhelming response from applicants for the vacant positions when the deadline for submission of applications came on May 28.
The women Warriors are drawn to face Mexico and Puerto Rico in Group A of the nine-team League A of the 2023 Road to CONCACAF W Gold Cup qualifiers beginning in September.
Among the qualifications the aspiring coaches must possess are a minimum qualification of a TTFA B’ License or equivalent or a desired qualification of TTFA A’ License or equivalent along with a minimum experience of five years coaching at the senior level and working knowledge of women’s football in the Caribbean Football Union and CONCACAF.
In addition, a desired experience of ten years coaching at the senior level and coaching at a national team (senior and/or youth) level.
Corneal said, “We got over 150-plus applications for the positions from around the world inclusive of coaches from USA, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and England, along with here at home.”
Without divulging any of the foreign applicants, he said that former national women’s coaches, former national men’s striker and captain, Kenwyne Jones, and Richard Hood, the former coach of the team are among the most high-profile local applicants.
Corneal said, “We are presently down to about 12 applications and within the next two days we will be making our decision.
He added, “A key part of the final decision in selecting the right coaching staff will be their qualifications, experience, and leadership qualities.”
The senior women’s team coaching position became vacant when the tenure of former England, and USA-based Jones was not renewed after ending on August 31, 2022.
In 2021, Welshman James Thomas resigned in October after five months into his tenure as head coach, and a week later, T&T men’s futsal coach Constantine Konstin was hired, only for Jones to be appointed five days later as the interim coach for the period October to November 2021, and that turned into a nine-month contract.
He led the team to the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Championship which served as a qualifier for the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. T&T finished at the bottom of their four-team group after defeats to Canada 6-0, Costa Rica 4-0 and Panama 1-0. The team played its last match in July 2022, after which his contract was not renewed when it expired in August.