Trinidad and Tobago National Under-17 Women’s team defender Lauren Schmidt is living a dream these days, wearing the red, white and black on a football field.
But not only that, Schmidt recently toured Brazil with the national team preparing to play in the 2010 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled for TT next month.
Schmidt, who was born in the United States and lives in California, explained how she became eligible to play for TT.
“My mom was born in Trinidad and lived there until she was 17. She continued her schooling in Canada and then came to the US for university and medical school.
She met my dad in med school and then they had their four kids in California. I’m a half-Trini living in California,” Schmidt said. She also related how the idea came up for her to try out for the TT team.
“My uncle (mom’s brother-in-law that lives in Trinidad) saw an announcement about the U-17 women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. “Then he contacted Coach Dion LaFoucade to get me a try-out.
I came down as soon as I could which is when the team returned from Korea. Then I had a five-day tryout in May and Coach Pellerud liked my style of play and wanted me back for summer,” Schmidt said.
And the rest is history she says.
“My love for the sport drives me to play football. It doesn’t matter what gender you are if you love to do something. I aim to improve my skills as well as build a strong bond with my team-mates. By playing in a World Cup I hope to have the experience of a lifetime as I have been having all summer so far,” she said.
Schmidt was backing Ghana during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“I was pulling for the US for a while, but then I was really hoping for Ghana once US got kicked out. But I really just wanted a country who had never won the World Cup before to win which happened, so I was happy,” Schmidt said. Turning back to herself, she told us a bit of her career so far.
“I’ve lived in California all my life. Since the age of two I have been in Morgan Hill. I am currently attending St Francis High School in Mountain View.
“I will be a senior (Grade 12) next year and will continue to play football for my school. My club team growing up was Orchard Valley Sting.
It was only this year that I switched teams, and now I play for MVLA (Mountain View Los Altos) Avalanche,” she said. As for her role on the TT team and what she sees for the future of the team, Schmidt appears ecstatic over the possibilities.
“For Trinidad and Tobago, I play central defence. But I play outside left defender for both my high school and my club team. TT has been improving so much lately. I can see a huge difference in the team that was here when I tried out in May compared to the current team.
“None of those countries will have an “easy win” against us. We are not going down without a fight. And with the way things have been looking, I don’t think we are going down at all in the first round,” she concluded.