This country’s National Under 20 Women footballers will be kept active over the holiday period as they intensify their preparations for the 2018 CONCACAF Under 20 Women’s Championship at the Home of Football, Ato Boldon Stadium from January 18th to 28th.
Under the guidance of head coach Jamaal Shabazz, a squad of 28 players have been in a residential training camp for the past two weeks . Seven of those players are overseas-based with three more overseas-based players to join by early January. The Senior Women’s Team are also in training as they gear up for the Caribbean leg of Senior Women’s World Cup qualification next year.
“This is by no means a holiday period for the senior and under 20 women’s team. It’s an opportunity for us to get all our players together, the foreign and local based and get some quality training time. The under 20s are in camp and the seniors are at it five days a week,” Shabazz told TTFA Media on Tuesday.
“The U-20s have been very competitive with each other, fighting for a spot on the team and the intensity is there. Through the use of the GPS heart rate monitors which we have been able to get burrowed from the Senior Men’s team, we have been able to monitor the quality and intensive of their work and the rest and recovery periods. It is a joy right now working with them and we are singing that we wish it can go on forever. Now the training has a lot more meaning and purpose,” Shabazz said.
The Under 20 camp will break on Saturday and resume training on December 27th. On Saturday the Under 20s will get another test from the Senior Women’s team at the Larry Gomes Stadium from 3:30pm.
“On Saturday we will play a stronger senior women’s team inclusive of some of their players that have returned from College in the US and we (Under 20s) will also be strengthened by the presence of our foreign-based players,” Shabazz said. “That game will close the camp that was started on December 16th and will be a good indication to show us how their fitness level and tactical awareness has improved and how they move in cohesion as a team.”
The former Senior Men’s Team assistant coach added: “We are grateful for the support and resources being afforded to us by the Association (TTFA) as every effort is being made to have the team prepared as best as possible. And the commitment and desire being shown by the players is also commendable at this time. They are all very eager to put in the hard work and then go on to produce the goods on the field of play
Canada, one of T&T’s opponents in Group A, also completed a training camp which ran from December 10th-17th in Burnaby. T&T’s other opponents, Costa Rica, will meantime face Jamaica in two friendlies on January 3rd and 5th in Costa Rica.
The United States, which is in Group B alongside Mexico, Jamaica and Nicaragua, held a four team friendly tournament earlier this month, losing to Brazil, 2-0 in the tournament finale, which saw them finish in third place behind England and Brazil. England defeated Finland in the other game 6-0 to win the title with seven points. Brazil finished with 6 points and the U.S. with four points and Finland (0 points).
T&T will face Haiti at 6:30pm on January 18th in the opening day double header at the Ato Boldon Stadium. Costa Rica clashes with Canada in the opening match from 4pm at the Home of Football.
The 2018 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship will be the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women’s under-20 national teams of the North, Central American and Caribbean region. The tournament will be hosted by Trinidad and Tobago and take place between 18–28 January 2018, as announced by CONCACAF on 31 October 2017.[1] A total of eight teams will play in the tournament.
The top three teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in France as the CONCACAF representatives.
The following is the list of players currently in camp for the T&T U-20 Women’s Team.
Goalkeepers:
Malaika Dedier, Klil Keshwar.
Defenders:
Abishai Guy, Brittney Williams, Natisha John, Moenesa Mejias, Nathifa Hackshaw, Raynicia Charles, Tianna Daniel, Alexis Kirton, Amaya Ellis, Shadi Cecily Stoute.
Midfielders:
Chelcy Ralph, Crystal Molineaux, Jaasiel Forde, Kedie Johnson, Ranae Ward, Shenieka Paul, Breanna George, Kaydeen Jack, Kelsey Henry, Alexis Fortune, Raenah Campbell, Lauren Duffy, Sydney Boisselle, Megan Rampersad.
Forwards:
Laurelle Theodore, Dennecia Prince, Aaliyah Prince, Asha James.
Coach - Jamaal Shabazz.