Makeshift T&T football team for CAC Games.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Only one player who was in the squad on Saturday for the Women’s World Cup intercontinental playoff against Ecuador, has been included in a 20-member team, set to depart tomorrow for the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games women’s football tournament, which kicks off on Monday.
Tenisha Palmer, a back-up goalkeeper for the senior women’s team leads a squad dominated by players otherwise from the national youth teams.
Unlike the men’s football tournament, which is limited to Under-21 players (with the exception of three players), the women’s tournament is open and has no age restrictions. However, due to the closeness in proximity to the second leg Fifa Women’s World Cup Concacaf/Comnebol playoff qualifier, the T&T team will comprise mostly national Under-20 and U-17 players.
The team will be led in the interim by national Under-15 head coach Rajesh Latchoo, while Sharon O’Brien is the team manager. According to the T&T Football Association (TTFA), an arrangement was made between Latchoo and senior women’s team head coach Randy Waldrum to exclude the players (apart from Palmer), who will be in the squad for the crucial second-leg World Cup qualifier in Port-of Spain, on December 2.
Along with Latchoo and O’Brien, the travelling staff members are Joanne Curtis (assistant coach), Claire George (equipment manager), Glennon Foncette (goalkeeper coach) and Judy Ann Harewood (physiotherapist).
The CAC Games is a qualifying event for the Olympic Games. From the women’s tournament, the top two teams will qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The “open” women’s team will kick off its account in Group A against Haiti, on Monday. Two days later, T&T will face Mexico and then finally Colombia on Friday. Albeit with a vastly different squad, T&T faced both Haiti and Mexico at the Concacaf Championships two weeks ago. T&T defeated Haiti 1-0 at the group stage, but lost to Mexico, 4-2, in added time in the third-place playoff.
Group B includes Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinal stage on November 25. The semifinal winners will advance to the final, while the losers meet in a third-place match, both on November 27.
The tournament is expected to be a difficult test for the T&T team as most other teams have reportedly opted to register nearly full-strength squads.
Women’s Squad: Nicolette Craig, Tenisha Palmer; Natasha St Louis, Patrice Campbell, Danielle Findley, Anastacia Prescott, Candace Edwards, Jonelle Warrick, Jo Marie Lewis, Iyesha Ollivierre, Taylor Mims, Chelcy Ralph, Summer Arjoon, Renee Mike, Patrice Vincent, Abishai Guy, Corel Carmichael, Sherine Scott, Kenna Charles, Raenah Campbell.
