Trinidad and Tobago's Under 20 women' team arrived at the Holiday Inn Boca Del Rio in Vera Cruz on Friday night and quickly settled in after a long journey from Piarco, via Miami then to Mexico City and then to Vera Cruz. T&T are in Mexico for the CONCACAF U-20 qualifying tournament.
Miami-based players Stephanie DeSousa and Kia Rigsby joined the team in Miami, while Katrina Meyer (South Carolina University ) and Maylee Attin Johnson( University of Tennessee) joined the team in Mexico City.
Coach Jamaal Shabazz could not pass through the USA due to visa complications, so he took four flights, through Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico City before finally arriving in Vera Cruz two hours after the rest of the team.
The team did a 30 minute walk to stretch their legs at a nearby mall and were scheduled to have their first session last evening.
Team vice-captain Maylee Attin-Johnson said: "It was a long flight but we are happy to be here so early so that we can settle down and get down to the business of focusing on the job we came here for."
"To many people it is crazy to think about qualifying against such tough teams but based on what we learnt from our coach and the Soca Warriors, impossible is nothing, she added.
Shabazz added: "The players are focused. We had the team practice the national anthem because we have three players who were not born in T&T and we are teaching them it. We also introduced them to the other anthem which is Maximus Dan's 'I Am A Soca Warrior' and the girls jus love it."
"The team is just in love with this song because it is so inspirational."
T&T play their first match of the tournament against Canada on January 18.