THE national Under-17 girls football team plan to use the performance of the senior women’s football team as inspiration as they compete at the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship in the Dominican Republic.
The tournament will kick off on Saturday and ends on May 8.
The top three teams in the tournament will qualify for the 2022 Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India, which will be played from October 11-30.
T&T will play in Group E alongside Nicaragua, Panama and Mexico.
T&T will battle Panama in their opening match, at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez, in Santo Domingo, on Saturday.
On April 12, the senior women’s footballers booked a place in the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Championship.
Needing at least a draw against Guyana, T&T got a goal in stoppage time from Lauryn Hutchinson to pull off a 2-2 draw at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
On Tuesday, speaking to the media during a training session at the St James Police Barracks, Under-17 head coach Jason Spence said, “We have discussed the senior women’s game (against Guyana) because we would have all looked at it. We would have discussed it and went into depth and I brought it to their attention saying, ‘Hey, we are going to be playing down to the last minute no matter what.’ We have seen how that has been able to bring us some favourable results.”
Midfielder Angel Berot said, “We look up to our senior women as we play against them, they talk to us so we watch (them) and we learn their tactics so we try our best to follow in their footsteps.”
T&T UNDER-17 SQUAD
Goalkeepers:
Sadiel Antoine, Shaunda Sheppard, Alexandra Ennals.
Defenders:
Cicely-Ann Wickham, Faith Alexander, Trischell Charles, Tayeann Wylie, Shadea Andrewa, Emily Nanton, Makeba Morang.
Midfielders:
Angel Berot, Marley Walker, Nikita Jackson, Arie Bhagan, Hannah Viera, Aliyah Hudlin, Jeniecia Benjamin.
Strikers:
Jhelysse Anthony, Breanna Smith, Jada Graham.